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To: Les H who wrote (49666)	12/20/2025 8:36:11 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 49754

Boston bodega owners charged in $7 million food stamp fraud scheme Simón Rios, WBUR December 17, 2025 Two Mattapan bodega owners are facing federal charges over allegations they trafficked nearly $7 million in food stamp benefits. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said the two men exchanged cash for SNAP benefits meant to buy food, often redeeming several times in benefits what a legitimate grocery store does in a month. Foley said Wednesday in a press conference that the men each operated small storefronts on Blue Hill Avenue, with little food on the shelves. “The only thing convenient about these stores was how easy it was to commit SNAP benefit fraud,” Foley said. According to the complaint, Antonio Bonheur, 74, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Haiti, redeemed $6.8 million in benefits starting in 2022. Beginning in May of this year, 21-year-old Saul Alisme, a legal permanent resident also from Haiti, redeemed $122,000. Both men are charged with a single count of food stamp fraud. The two businesses were targeted earlier this year by undercover officers who exchanged food stamps for cash, the U.S. attorney said. “Observations made by the undercovers showed that it was just as easy for anyone with an EBT card to walk into either store and convert hundreds of dollars in SNAP benefits into cash,” Foley said. One undercover officer paid $120 in food stamps in exchange for $100 in cash, according to federal prosecutors. Authorities claim the two men even sold liquor for SNAP money. The shop owners were also selling MannaPacks, packaged meals intended to be distributed for free in food insecure countries like Haiti, and not authorized for retail sale, the U.S. attorney's office said. Bonheur's defense attorney declined to comment Wednesday. Alisme's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some 42 million people in America receive SNAP benefits. More than 1 million in Massachusetts use them. Massachusetts administers the benefits through the EBT debit card program. Foley alleged one of the bodega owners had an EBT card in his name and accused the state of not properly vetting his benefits application. But Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement and in a post on social media that her office tipped off the feds to the SNAP redeeming scheme last November. Boston bodega owners charged in $7 million food stamp fraud scheme \| WBUR News