ICE HSI Boston, Attorney General announce 25 arrests in large-scale document and benefit fraud scheme

BOSTON — Twenty five individuals were charged as a result of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe targeting offenders of document and benefit fraud.

Peter C. Fitzhugh, HSI Boston special agent in charge, joined U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew E . Lelling in the announcement Thursday. Many of the defendants have prior criminal histories, including a convicted murderer who escaped from prison in Puerto Rico in 1994 while serving a 40-year sentence. 21 of the alleged defendants are unlawfully present in the United States.

The arrests and charges announced were the result of “Operation Double Trouble,” a long term, coordinated investigation by HSI’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) comprised of local, state and federal agencies joining together to detect, deter and disrupt organizations and individuals involved in a wide range of document, identity and benefit fraud schemes. The Boston DBFTF includes representatives from the Offices of Inspectors General from the U.S. Department of Health, U.S. Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as well as the Massachusetts State Police and the Office of the Massachusetts State Auditor.

In total, those arrested and charged are alleged to have defrauded the American taxpayer of more than a quarter of a million dollars, including $200,000 in health care.

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