BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is being criticized for a lack of state oversight of the food stamp program after federal authorities charged two Haitian nationals this week with defrauding the system of millions of taxpayer dollars.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said federal authorities charged the two Boston store owners in a $7 million “trafficking” scheme to collect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Antonio Bonheur, 74, and Saul Alisme, 21, both of Haiti, are each facing one count of fraud.
But Foley said the largely unsophisticated scam — which was run out of a pair of small grocery stores — was made possible by a lack of enforcement by the state Department of Transitional Assistance, which she said 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, who was appointed to the job by President Trump earlier this year, told reporters.
But Healey fired back on those claims, saying her administration had referred the SNAP fraud case to federal authorities more than a year ago.
“My administration reported this suspicious activity to the federal government for investigation and prosecution over a year ago,” Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Glad they’re finally doing something about it.”
“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,” she added.
Republicans seized on the allegations by the U.S. Attorney’s office, criticizing Healey for a lack of oversight of the federally funded program and calling for more investigations.
“This isn’t an isolated incident — this is the culture of negligence and lack of accountability that has blossomed under Democrats’ One-Party rule in Massachusetts,” Amy Carnevale, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, said in a statement. “Now is the time for solutions and real accountability from Democrats; anything less would be a disservice to the millions of hard working Bay Staters our government serves.”
Healey is facing a challenge from several GOP candidates who are vying for the party’s nomination to challenge the incumbent governor in next year’s elections. They also seized on the scandal to criticize Healey’s leadership and call for change in the governor’s office.
“Healey has once again let down the people of Massachusetts,” Brian Shortsleeve, a former MBTA head and venture capitalist who jumped into the race in May. “The governor should be investigating her own administration for its lack of oversight and mismanagement.”
Another GOP candidate, Mike Minogue, said the federal case raises “serious concerns” about how the state is managing millions of dollars in SNAP funding.
“What makes this even more troubling is that the Governor is now risking SNAP benefits altogether by refusing to provide required identification and benefit data,” Minogue, a former AbioMed CEO from South Hamilton, said in a statement. We need to eliminate waste and fraud in Massachusetts and America. Transparency protects the integrity of the program and the people who truly rely on it. Avoiding oversight risks the program itself.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to cut off federal funding for Democrat-run states if they do not provide proper oversight of SNAP benefit payments.
The crackdown comes in response to allegations that a group of Somali immigrants defrauded Minnesota taxpayers of more than $1 billion through the state’s Medicaid program.
In Massachusetts, more than 1.1 million people receive benefits from the program, which provided $2.6 billion in funding in 2024, according to the Healey administration.
The distribution of SNAP benefits in November was delayed by a 43 day shut down of the federal government amid partisan bickering in Congress over extending expiring Affordable Care Act “enhanced” tax credits.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.