U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said she will establish a fraud coordinator for Massachusetts after President Trump’s newly established fraud czar at the White House and as more SNAP and other public benefits fraud schemes are uncovered in the state.

“The fraud coordinator will act as a primary point of contact for benefit fraud in the U.S. Attorney’s office and as a trusted advisor to me and my leadership when it comes to investigating and charging these kinds of cases,” Foley said. What we are seeing in our ongoing investigations warrants this type of attention, and you should anticipate seeing more and more of these cases coming here in Massachusetts.”

Foley’s announcement comes amid a wave of SNAP fraud uncovered in Massachusetts, including the $1 million bust announced the same day by Foley.

As recently as December, her office announced a $7 million SNAP fraud scheme ran by two Haitian nationals. Just last month, the state Auditor’s Office announced that it identified nearly $12 million in public assistance fraud in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the largest amount of which was found within the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), totaling $4.1 million. About $1.3 million in MassHealth fraud was also discovered.

“These benefits are intended to enable low-income households to obtain a more nutritious diet by increasing their food-purchasing power, not to stock someone’s restaurants,” said Foley. “This is the tip of the iceberg.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office tells the Herald that the person assigned to the new role will be announced in the coming weeks.

Federal and state clash

The new position also comes as Foley has been critical of state officials in Massachusetts, including Gov. Maura Healey, for not doing enough to stop and prosecute those committing the fraud and for not properly notifying federal authorities to fraud being uncovered.

“It is not particularly hard to identify these scams,” Foley said, “but if you don’t even care to look or prosecute those involved, essentially allowing criminals to steal vast amounts of taxpayer money with impunity, the scams will continue to proliferate unabated.”

The federal prosecutor and Healey are locked in a dispute over whether Massachusetts officials tipped off federal investigators to the $7 million SNAP fraud scheme announced in December.

Following a press conference Tuesday held at the same time as Foley’s, the Herald asked Healey if she should comply with the Trump administration’s request to turn over 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 addressed Healey’s comments later that day on the Howie Carr Show and doubled down on that stance in comments to the Herald on Wednesday.

“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. “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 says 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.

But Healey’s office and the Department of Transitional Assistance 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.” Healey’s office also provided a screenshot of a Nov. 2024 email from a DTA fraud investigator to the USDA warning of the fraud. Foley did not acknowledge this in her statement to the Herald.

The White House

In response to this latest SNAP fraud bust, the White House is also 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.

Trump announced on Jan. 28 that “fearless prosecutor” Colin McDonald is his nominee for a new assistant general for fraud position that, with Senate approval, would authorize him to identify and prosecute misuse of federal resources.

“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.