BOSTON — On Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced charges in what was described as a multi-state identity-theft scheme orchestrated by four individuals who allegedly used stolen personal information to obtain more than $1 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits—then converted those benefits into bulk food purchases for a Leominster restaurant and wired proceeds overseas.
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts said the following three individuals were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, and possess SNAP benefits and were scheduled to appear in federal court in Worcester on the afternoon of Feb. 3, 2026:
- Joel Vicioso Fernandez, 42, of Fitchburg
- Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, a Venezuelan national living in Leominster
- Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24, a Venezuelan national living in Leominster
A fourth defendant, Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, a Dominican national and naturalized U.S. citizen who resides in Fitchburg, was charged separately with conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, SNAP benefit fraud, aiding and abetting, and money laundering. Prosecutors said he will appear in federal court in Worcester at a later date.
How investigators say the group was connected
According to an affidavit filed by United States Department of Agriculture – Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG) Special Agent Kyle Bishop, the defendants were connected through familial and household ties, as well as their roles at El Primo Restaurant (also referenced as El Pilon Yuli Corporation), a restaurant located at 1025 Central Street in Leominster.
The affadavit states that Raul Fernandez Vicioso is married to Deyanira Fernandez (described as “Co-Conspirator 1” in the affidavit), and that Raul Fernandez Vicioso and Joel Vicioso Fernandez are brothers. It also says Coralba Albarracin Siniva is Deyanira Fernandez’s cousin who worked at the restaurant, and Siniva and Roman Vequiz Fernandez are partners who live together in Leominster.
According to the affidavit, El Primo Restaurant was incorporated as a limited liability company with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office in November 2021 by Deyanira Fernandez, who is listed in state filings as president, secretary, and director. The affidavit says Raul Fernandez Vicioso was listed as vice president and treasurer. Investigators say the restaurant continued operating under their control even after the business was administratively dissolved by the state for failing to file annual reports after 2021.
Prosecutors say the defendants used stolen identities from about 115 individuals (including juveniles) to obtain about $440,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They also allege the group fraudulently received more than $700,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits across Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington, and Nevada.
The affidavit states the group fraudulently obtained approximately $325,000 in SNAP benefits from Rhode Island and $115,000 in SNAP benefits from Massachusetts.
“From June 2023 to September 2025, the defendants received an approximate average of $12,526 a month in Rhode Island SNAP benefits with a maximum monthly issuance of approximately $16,623 in April 2024,” Bishop wrote in the affidavit.
What prosecutors say the benefits were used for
Bishop said that when the conspirators received these SNAP benefits on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards issued in real names of victims, they took additional steps to conceal their scheme by removing some of the printed names from the fraudulent SNAP benefit cards and setting identical Personal Identification Numbers (PINs).
“They did this so that they could purchase large quantities of expensive bulk food items (such as multiple-pound packages of meat) at various local wholesalers and food markets to stock El Primo Restaurant,” Bishop said. “With their supplies obtained for free, they prepared and then sold menu items at El Primo Restaurant at a complete profit, later wiring the fraud proceeds, among other places, to individuals living in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.”
Between 2021 and 2024, Bishop wrote that Deyanira Fernandez allegedly wired about $91,000 to the Dominican Republic, while Vicioso allegedly wired roughly $46,000 there during the same period. The affidavit also states that an additional approximately $53,000 was wired using suspected victim identities to recipients investigators believe were relatives of the defendants.
The investigation also alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators obtained more than $700,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits by submitting fraudulent applications and supporting documents. According to the affidavit, those submissions led state agencies in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to issue payments to bank accounts controlled by members of the group.
“These defendants and their co-conspirators repeatedly used email addresses, residential addresses, and phone numbers that they controlled, to submit the fraudulent PUA applications,” Bishop said.
Bishop said investigators obtained store surveillance footage documenting the group’s alleged use of fraudulently obtained SNAP benefits in more than 150 transactions during the investigation.
On May 16, 2024, three Rhode Island EBT cards issued in the names of identity-theft victims were used together to make a $2,806.44 purchase at Hannaford in Leominster, according to the affidavit. Bishop said the image taken from surveillance footage below shows Vicioso entering the store before the transaction.
In May 2024, a SNAP transaction using a Rhode Island EBT card issued in a victim’s name took place at BJ’s Wholesale Club in Leominster, using a BJ’s membership card issued to El Primo Restaurant. According to the affidavit, the surveillance image below shows Vicioso completing the purchase and leaving the store.
On June 4, 2024, a $114 SNAP transaction using a Rhode Island EBT card issued in a victim’s name took place at Hannaford Supermarket in Leominster, Massachusetts. According to the affidavit, the following image taken from surveillance footage shows Joel Vicioso Fernandez completing the purchase.
In June 2024, a $710.02 SNAP transaction using a Rhode Island EBT card issued in a victim’s name took place at Big Mania Meat Market in Leominster, Massachusetts. According to the affidavit, surveillance footage shows Vicioso and Deyanira Fernandez completing the purchase and later leaving the store with only a bottle of chocolate milk.
Photo credit: USDA Office of Inspector General affidavit
In the affidavit, Bishop said that on Sept. 23, 2025 he applied for federal search warrants for El Primo Restaurant and the home of Raul Fernandez Vicioso, which were subsequently issued by the court. The next day, Bishop and other federal agents executed the warrants at the restaurant and at Vicioso’s residence, where he was present.
Bishop said evidence seized at Vicioso’s residence during the execution of the search warrant included approximately 20 fraudulently obtained Rhode Island and Massachusetts EBT cards, fraudulent documents, printed ledgers, handwritten lists containing more than 100 names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, and SNAP-related mailings. Other items seized during the search of Vicioso’s residence included a magnetic card reader/encoder and dozens of blank white magnetic stripe cards, which the affidavit says could be used to encode stolen EBT card information. One of the seized EBT cards, coded with Massachusetts SNAP data, had a balance of $918.63 at the time it was recovered.
The affidavit states that Vicioso participated in a voluntary, non-custodial interview during the execution of the warrant. According to the affidavit, during this interview, he admitted to purchasing stolen personally identifiable information and using it to fraudulently apply for SNAP benefits in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He also allegedly admitted to conspiring with others to use Rhode Island residential addresses for the applications and arranging for EBT cards to be sent to him via Uber. Investigators said the SNAP cards were used by employees at the restaurant to purchase food for resale, and that Vicioso took steps to conceal the scheme by removing names from cards and setting identical PIN numbers.
Vicioso, the affidavit says, also admitted to fraudulently obtaining Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits in multiple states and to wiring proceeds from the alleged schemes to individuals in Venezuela and to pay for property he owns in the Dominican Republic.
If convicted, the conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, while the wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges carry potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison. The charge of illegal acquisition or use of SNAP benefits carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, while a money laundering conviction is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the charges stem from a joint investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and other federal and state partners.