Gov. Maura Healey and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley continue to accuse one another of being untruthful about whether Massachusetts officials tipped off federal investigators to SNAP fraud in the state after another major bust was announced Tuesday.

Foley announced an alleged SNAP fraud involving more than 100 stolen identities used to obtain over $1 million in SNAP and Public Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. During her press conference, Foley said at no point did any Massachusetts agency or official refer any fraudulent activity to her office or federal authorities for this investigation.

Following a press conference held at the same time, Healey avoided a Herald question on if she should comply with the Trump administration’s request to turn over the recipient data. Healey avoided answering the question, instead stating that Massachusetts officials tipped off the feds to the $7 million SNAP fraud scheme uncovered by Foley’s office in December.

Foley on Wednesday addressed Healey’s comments.

“In the past 60 days, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged six individuals with over $8 million in SNAP benefit fraud,” Foley told the Herald in a statement. “Yesterday, the Governor stated that these cases were referred by Massachusetts authorities to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for investigation and prosecution. That is simply inaccurate.”

Foley added that during the time the crimes were being committed, Healey only deactivated the EBT debit cards flagged for fraud and did not prosecute any individuals connected to those cards and benefits.

“The bottom line is that merely shutting off a SNAP card holder’s benefits is not enough. Fraud perpetrators need to be investigated and prosecuted to ensure accountability and send a strong message that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated,” Foley told the Herald.

But Healey’s office and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) provided the Herald with what they say is proof that Massachusetts alerted federal investigators to fraudulent activity within the SNAP program, with a Healey spokesperson adding that Foley “is just wrong.”

Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is pushing back against the U.S. Attorney’s office. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

“DTA takes every allegation of fraud seriously and has strong measures in place to identify and report fraud to protect the $2.6 billion dollar SNAP program that feeds Massachusetts families. These cases were identified and reported by the state of Rhode Island to Massachusetts DTA and the USDA’s Office of Inspector General. As soon as they were reported, Massachusetts DTA acted to immediately close the cases and work with the federal government to support their investigation,” a DTA spokesperson told the Herald in a written statement.

The department also provided the Herald with a screenshot of a November 2024 email from a DTA fraud investigator to the USDA warning of alleged fraud activity at a Boston variety store.

A screenshot of an email from a DTA fraud investigator to the USDA referring evidence of fraud in Nov. 2024. (Department of Transitional Assistance)

It’s the second time in just a day that Foley has adamantly stated Healey has been untruthful about the state’s role in identifying SNAP fraud to the feds. In an appearance on the Howie Carr Show following her Tuesday press conference, Foley reiterated her claims that Massachusetts officials never notified any federal agency.

“Absolutely not. No referral from the Massachusetts Governor’s Office or administration came to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Absolutely not,” Foley said. “And the last indictment that we brought in December, in which she said she referred that one to our office, we never received a referral to our office from that. And that happened on her watch when she was the AG and she didn’t prosecute it.”

The Herald presented Foley’s office with the DTA email, which they did not acknowledge in their statement. However, Foley says her office is “eager” to work with state and local agencies to continue the fight against waste, fraud and abuse in public assistance programs.

“As we have said before, we are eager to work with state and local agencies to ferret out this fraud, which has real victims. My office continues to investigate many similar cases, and we would welcome the participation of our state and local partners,” said Foley. “Program integrity requires accountability, and collaboration is the best way to ensure that result. Referrals for investigation and prosecution – from anyone with knowledge of SNAP benefit fraud – should be made to USDA OIG.

Republicans react to latest SNAP fraud bust

The dispute between the governor and U.S. Attorney comes as state Republicans react to the SNAP fraud bust and pounce on Healey’s claims the state referred evidence of fraud to federal investigators.

“The entrenched political establishment and Healey administration continue to put politics ahead of accountability. As fraud in taxpayer-funded food assistance programs is exposed, the Governor is refusing to cooperate with efforts to protect Massachusetts families. Healey seems adverse to transparency,” said GOP gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue. “No wonder she is ignoring the will of 72% of Bay Staters who voted for an independent audit.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton says fraud is “rampant” in Massachusetts because elected officials, at best, are allowing it to happen if not participating in it.

“This tells you all you need to know about the need for change in MA,” Deaton said in a post to X. “And despite multiple documented cases of fraud involving SNAP benefits, they refuse to provide information related to those receiving the benefits. Why? Because MA has rampant fraud taking place and our elected officials know it. They know it because they’re involved in it. At a minimum, they’re complicit for knowing it and allowing it to continue.”

Republican candidate for governor Brian Shortsleeve is blasting Healey for “ignoring warnings of a massive SNAP fraud scheme,” also calling for immediate reforms, including chip-enabled EBT cards and stronger auditing practices.

“This is not an isolated mistake. It’s a pattern. Time and again, Maura Healey looks the other way when taxpayer dollars are being stolen. Taxpayers deserve to know why her administration failed to act when it knew fraud was occurring,” Shortsleeve said. “You don’t fight fraud by pretending it doesn’t exist. You stop it with real controls, real audits, and real enforcement.”

In a written statement, state Rep. and House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-20th Middlesex) called the SNAP fraud announced by Foley “an outrage,” adding that the Healey administration has been “lackadaisical” in their response to fraud schemes.

“At a time when so many families are struggling to put food on the table, it is an outrage to hear that taxpayer dollars meant to support such a vital safety net program are going to individuals who don’t qualify for or deserve assistance. Even more disturbing is how lackadaisical the Healey Administration’s response has been since it learned of this scheme,” Jones said.

“Rather than immediately notifying the U.S. Department of Agriculture about this and trying to recover these funds, DTA simply shut down the accounts when it should have instead been working with federal officials to identify these individuals and prevent them from continuing to illegally obtain benefits. This is a disgrace and an indictment of the Healey Administration,” he said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy says Healey “has been caught in another lie,” adding that Healey is among the least transparent governors in the history of Massachusetts.

“Governor Healey was caught in yet another lie. Engaging in deliberate falsehoods will further worsen our near-nonexistent relationship with our federal partners, leaving taxpayers exposed to more fraud of the type uncovered today,” said Kennealy. “Maura Healey leads the least transparent administration in state history – I will lead the most transparent.”

Foley explained Tuesday that the state of Rhode Island picked up on the fraud in June of 2024, also discovering many of the victims’ identities also received SNAP benefits in Massachusetts. She said Rhode Island officials referred the evidence to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in that state, who referred it to Foley’s office for investigation.

The White House is also responding to this latest Bay State SNAP fraud bust, calling on Healey to provide the USDA with information on SNAP recipients to allow them to root out waste, fraud and abuse, adding that Healey is protecting fraudsters over constituents.

“The Trump Administration is aggressively rooting out fraud and abuse to ensure every hard-earned taxpayer dollar serves the people of Massachusetts – not predatory scammers. Governor Healey must stop protecting fraudsters and start putting her constituents first,” White House Spokeswoman Liz Huston told the Herald in a written statement.

Foley says the defendants, a naturalized citizen from the Dominican Republic, two illegal immigrants and one green card holder, allegedly stole identities from U.S. citizens in several states during the scheme, including New York, Florida, Connecticut, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. They also allegedly stole the identities of six juveniles.

The news of this latest scheme was uncovered just days after the state Auditor’s Office announced that for the fiscal year that ended June 30, its Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) has identified $11,952,288 in public assistance fraud, the largest amount of this was found within the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), totaling $4.1 million. Next highest was MassHealth with investigators identifying $1.3 million worth of fraud.