Indictments issued in US District Court for Theft of Government Benefits.
On July 31, 2019, a Fitchburg woman was indicted in the US District Court in Boston on three counts of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements. The woman entered a plea of not guilty. The indictment alleges the woman fraudulently received $71,462 in Social Security benefits, $6,444 in MassHealth benefits, and $13,505 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by falsely informing the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and the Social Security Administration about the members of her household.
On February 21, 2020, a Cambridge woman was indicted in the US District Court in Boston on two counts of theft of government benefits. The woman entered a plea of not guilty. The indictment alleges the woman fraudulently received approximately $71,636 in Social Security benefits and $13,923 in SNAP benefits from December 2009 through September 2018 by failing to report that her mother, the rightful recipient of these benefits, was deceased.
Lowell Woman Found Guilty of Public Assistance Fraud and Larceny Following Bench Trial.
On January 10, 2020, a Lowell woman was found guilty, following a bench trial before Judge Michael Fabbri, of larceny over $250 and public assistance fraud in Lowell District Court. The complaint alleged that the woman intentionally withheld information from the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), by failing to disclose to EEC that the father of her dependent was employed and residing in her home. Over the course of seven months, she fraudulently collected $8,812.02 in EEC childcare vouchers for her dependent. Had the woman disclosed she was living with the dependent’s father and in receipt of additional earned-income, she would not have been eligible to qualify for EEC childcare benefits. Sentencing is still pending due to the pandemic.
North Attleboro Woman Sentenced for Larceny and Public Assistance Fraud.
On February 28, 2020, a North Attleboro woman admitted to sufficient facts on one count of larceny over $1200 and public assistance fraud. She was originally charged with one count of public assistance fraud, one count of making a false statement for medical assistance, and one count of larceny over $1200 for failing to report her household income and composition to MassHealth and DTA. However, the medical assistance charge was dismissed as part of her plea agreement. The court sentenced her to a continuance without a finding for two years until February 28, 2022; administrative supervision during that time; and $2400 in restitution to DTA payable through monthly payments of $100.
Despite Pandemic, BSI Participation in Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force Continues.
As an active member of the US Attorney’s Public Assistance Fraud Task Force, BSI received 16 referrals in fiscal year 2020. BSI also continued to serve on the Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), which comprises various local, state, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes.
DBFTF’s “Double Trouble” investigation continued to identify suspected aliens, predominately from the Dominican Republic, who allegedly obtained stolen identities of United States citizens living in Puerto Rico and then used those identities to obtain documents and public benefits that they would not otherwise be eligible to receive. Most frequently, these benefits included Registry of Motor Vehicles identity documents, Social Security numbers, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, and public housing subsidies. During FY20, the defendants in two separate Double Trouble cases pleaded guilty. (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/25-charged-federal-document-and-benefit-fraud-sweep).
On August 2, 2019, Jose Lopez Rosado, 51, who escaped prison in Puerto Rico in 1994 while serving a 40-year sentence for murder, pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a Social Security number and one count of aggravated identity theft. Rosado’s true name was unknown until his arrest during the federal sweep in July 2018.
Lopez Rosado applied for a duplicate Massachusetts driver’s license using the name and Social Security number of another US citizen on February 9, 2016. Based on the application, Lopez Rosado was issued a duplicate driver’s license in the name of the other US citizen. Lopez Rosado also used that name and Social Security number to receive MassHealth benefits. (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/worcester-man-pleads-guilty-social-security-fraud-and-identity-theft)
On April 22, 2020, Wandil Mejia Jimenez, a Dominican national previously residing in Dorchester, was sentenced in connection with using a US citizen’s identity. Mejia Jimenez was detained following his arrest in June 2019, and in January 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of false representation of a Social Security number. At a videoconference hearing before US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper, Mejia Jimenez was sentenced to time served, approximately 12 months, and became subject to deportation proceedings.
In 2014, Mejia Jimenez used the name and identifiers of a US citizen to apply for a Massachusetts driver’s license and other identification documents from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Mejia Jimenez used this citizen’s name to open bank accounts, including bank accounts that were closed with negative balances. He was also arrested for cocaine trafficking under this citizen’s name. It was around the time of his arrest that police seized a Dominican Republic passport in Mejia Jimenez’s true name. (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/dominican-national-sentenced-identity-theft-10)
| Date published: | February 18, 2021 |
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