Boston Convenience Store Owner Gets 2 Years In Prison For Multi-Million Dollar Scheme

BOSTON, MA — The owner of a Boston convenience store was sentenced to two years in prison for buying millions of dollars' worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits with liquor and cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Antonio Bonheur, 74, was also ordered to pay restitution of $1 million in the form of a money judgment and approximately $400,000 in seized funds were ordered forfeited.

Bonheur pleaded guilty in March to food stamp fraud and wire fraud.

The SNAP scheme Bonheur ran out of his tiny Mattapan shop far outpaced full-service supermarkets in redemptions, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media release.

A supermarket redeems about $82,000 a month in SNAP benefits, according to the release, while Bonheur's Jesula Variety Store redeemed as much as $500,000 in a month.

If that wasn't bad enough, "Jesula Variety Store also sold MannaPack meals, a donated food product manufactured by the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children," the release said.

"These meals are paid for entirely by charitable donations intended for shipment and distribution to food-insecure children overseas and are never authorized for retail sale," according to the release. "Bonheur sold donated MannaPack meals in his store for approximately $8 per package, profiting from food intended for humanitarian relief."

While raking in millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained benefits, Bonheur managed to secure a SNAP card of his own from the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, per the release.

"In applying for his SNAP benefits, Bonheur made multiple false statements concerning his income and assets," the release said.

Bonheur was arrested following an undercover investigation that found SNAP benefits were trafficked for cash from Jesula Variety Store on four occasions, according to the release.

"In each instance, the defendant worked the cash registers and personally exchanged SNAP benefits for cash. Bonheur also sold liquor in exchange for SNAP benefits," the release said.

While Bonheur was pulling in millions in supplemental nutrition assistance money, his store didn't offer much when it came to actual food, according to the release.

"Jesula Variety Store carried little legitimate food inventory and generated minimal lawful revenue, therefore Bonheur relied almost entirely on USDA-funded SNAP redemptions as his source of income," the release said. "To conceal the nature and source of these funds, Bonheur maintained numerous secondary bank accounts through which SNAP proceeds were transferred, withdrawn as cash and redeposited to create the appearance of legitimate business activity while obscuring the true source of funds."

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