Mass. men charged with fraud for alleged $7 million SNAP scam, prosecutors say

Crime

The two men, who both owned variety stores in Mattapan, allegedly trafficking millions of dollars in SNAP benefits.

Two Boston men are facing fraud charges after they allegedly trafficked nearly $7 million worth of SNAP benefits, according to federal prosecutors.

Antonio Bonheur, 74, of Mattapan, and Saul Alisme, 24, of Hyde Park, were each charged Wednesday with one count of food stamp fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. The two men allegedly schemed to fraudulently obtain SNAP benefits through the retail stores they operated.

Bonheur owned Jesula Variety Store, and Alisme owned Saul Mache Mixe Store, which operated in the same building at 1549 Blue Hill Ave. in Mattapan, according to court filings. Jesula Variety Store began accepting SNAP benefits in September 2021, while Saul Mache Mixe Store began accepting them in May 2025.

Though both stores were limited in their sizes and inventories, they allegedly exhibited “extraordinarily high” SNAP redemption rates that well exceeded “what could reasonably be supported by legitimate food sales.” The monthly averages of the stores’ SNAP volumes were also far higher than similar businesses of the same size and location, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Jesula Variety Store’s monthly SNAP redemptions “regularly exceeded” $100,000 and reached $500,000 at times, prosecutors said. By comparison, a supermarket in the same area redeems closer to $82,000 in monthly benefits.

Transactional data from the two stores allegedly showed that only about 10 percent of SNAP transactions were for amounts under $40 and more than 70 percent exceeded $95. These types of transactions are typical for large supermarkets but not for small variety stores, prosecutors said.

During undercover investigations at the two businesses, benefits were allegedly trafficked for cash four times at Jesula Variety Store and twice at Saul Mache Mixe Store, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The defendants, who were allegedly working the cash registers at the time, allegedly exchanged SNAP redemptions for cash and sold liquor in exchange for benefits.

Bonheur and Alisme also allegedly sold MannaPack meals, a donated food product from the nonprofit organization Feed My Starving Children, in their stores. The meals are fully paid for by charitable donations so they can be distributed to food-insecure children overseas, prosecutors said.

MannaPack meals are “never authorized” for retail sale, but Bonheur and Alisme allegedly sold them for approximately $8 per package, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Due to the stores’ low food inventory and minimal “lawful revenue,” the two men allegedly relied almost entirely on SNAP redemptions for their income, prosecutors said. They allegedly created multiple secondary bank accounts to transfer the SNAP proceeds and withdraw them as cash to “create the appearance of legitimate business activity.”

Bonheur and Alisme appeared in federal court Wednesday following their arrests. They each face up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.