Massive fraud: Prosecutors charge Haitian migrants in $7 million SNAP scam

Federal prosecutors unsealed a major fraud indictment Wednesday, charging two Haitian migrants with operating a $7 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit trafficking scheme out of two small retail storefronts in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood.

According to a newly filed federal criminal complaint, Antonio Bonheur, 74, and Saul Alisme, 21, are each charged with one count of SNAP fraud for trafficking millions of dollars in SNAP (food stamp) benefits, turning a program meant to feed struggling families into a cash machine for fraudsters.

The USDA Office of Inspector General, working alongside the FBI, charged Antonio Bonheur, owner of Jesula Variety Store, and Saul Alisme, owner of Saul Mache Mixe Store, with food stamp fraud under federal law.

Investigators allege that Bonheur’s store, a so-called “medium grocery store” that is only about 150 square feet and lacks shopping carts, baskets, scanners, refrigerators, meat, dairy, or produce, somehow processed over $6.9 million in SNAP transactions between 2021 and 2025.

To put that in perspective:

• Comparable grocery stores in the same ZIP code average $16,000 per month in SNAP redemptions
• Bonheur’s store averaged nearly $300,000 per month
• More than 70% of all transactions exceeded $150, a statistical impossibility for a shop with almost no food inventory

Investigators bluntly stated there was “no means by which hundreds of thousands of dollars in SNAP-eligible foods” could have been legitimately sold from the location.

Pole-camera surveillance provided the final nail in the coffin.

On multiple days, investigators observed customers spending hundreds of dollars per transaction, some exceeding $700, and then walking out with empty hands or a single small plastic bag.

On May 6, 2025 alone, dozens of transactions over $100 were recorded. Not a single customer left with groceries consistent with the amounts charged.

That’s because, according to the affidavit, SNAP benefits were allegedly being exchanged for cash, liquor, and other prohibited items, a textbook example of welfare trafficking.

Even more outrageous: Bonheur allegedly applied for SNAP benefits for himself, claiming he had zero income, despite owning a business raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in SNAP redemptions.

Investigators determined:

• Bonheur falsely claimed no income other than Social Security
• He collected over $10,800 in SNAP benefits
• Every single SNAP transaction on his personal EBT card was conducted at his own store

Alisme allegedly ran a similar operation out of a slightly larger but still minuscule store (about 500 square feet).

Despite minimal inventory and limited eligible food items, his store reportedly trafficked over $121,000 in SNAP benefits in just a few months after opening in 2025.

Both stores were located in the same building.

WATCH:

HOLY CRAP! MAJOR SNAP fraud exposed in Massachusetts, committed by Haitian migrants Antonio Bonheur and Saul Alisme to the tune of $7 million

The US attorney says they ran fake stores to turn SNAP benefits into cash, earning up to $480K per MONTH

“Jesula Variety Store… pic.twitter.com/Ynr1l3xXHM

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 18, 2025