Massachusetts store owner pleads guilty in $7 million SNAP fraud case
One of two Boston store owners charged in a $7 million Massachusetts SNAP fraud case is pleading guilty, court documents show.
Antonio Bonheur, a 74-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti, is pleading guilty to unauthorized use, transfer, acquisition, alteration or possession of benefits, and wire fraud. According to the plea deal that was filed in federal court this week, the Mattapan man admitted to making $1 million from the alleged scheme, which he has agreed to forfeit.
Bonheur owned the Jesula Variety Store on Blue Hill Avenue and shared a storefront with 21-year-old Saul Alisme, who was also charged in the case. Alisme has pleaded not guilty.
Alleged SNAP fraud scheme
Prosecutors described the businesses as "effectively a closet with shelves and a register," but said the small stores were pulling in up to half a million dollars in SNAP redemptions per month, which is more than a typical full-service supermarket.
"To put this in perspective, the Jesula Variety Store is less than 150 square feet in size, smaller than some bathrooms," U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said when charges were announced in December.
According to investigators, SNAP benefits were being trafficked for cash. Surveillance video showed customers leaving the store without grocery bags even though records indicated they had supposedly purchased more than $100 worth of food.
"These were not supermarkets. They were not full-service groceries. It would be a huge stretch to even call them convenience stores," Foley said. "The only thing convenient about these stores was how easy it was to commit SNAP benefit fraud."
The charges Bonheur pleaded guilty to carry possible prison sentences of up to 25 years in total, but the U.S. attorney's office agreed to issue a recommendation on the lower end of the sentencing guidelines.
Fraud allegations in Massachusetts
Foley claimed in December that Massachusetts didn't do enough to stop "millions of dollars in losses."
"This was not a sophisticated fraud scene, and it didn't have to be because a lack of oversight was all that was needed to allow it to happen," Foley said.
Gov. Maura Healey's, however, said her office reported suspicious activity at Jesula to the federal government more than a year ago.
"As a former Attorney General and now Governor, I will always support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for anyone who engages in fraud or abuse of a federal program or any program," Healey said at the time.
Last month, four Massachusetts were accused of using more than 100 stolen identities as part of a $1 million multi-state SNAP fraud scheme.
