Raul Carlos Monarca-Gonzalez Pleads Guilty to $3.2M Food Stamp Fraud

Raul Carlos Monarca-Gonzalez, 40, of Waterbury, has pleaded guilty to ripping off the federal food stamp system for over a year and a half, funneling $3.2 million in taxpayer-funded benefits through a sham grocery operation. Monarca-Gonzalez waived indictment and admitted in Hartford federal court today to one count of unlawful use of food stamp benefits and one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud.

The scam ran from November 2014 to June 2016 at WB Trade Fair Grocery, located at 43 Willow Street in Waterbury, where Monarca-Gonzalez worked. Instead of selling eligible food items, he and co-conspirators systematically allowed customers to trade their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards for cold hard cash and non-qualifying goods like cigarettes and soaps—direct violations of USDA rules. SNAP benefits are strictly meant to boost food-purchasing power for low-income families, not to line the pockets of crooked retailers.

The math doesn’t lie. Given the store’s size, inventory, and layout, federal investigators estimate WB Trade Fair Grocery could lawfully redeem no more than $240,000 in SNAP benefits annually. But records show the store processed approximately $3.2 million in redemptions during the 18-month fraud window—more than 10 times what should have been possible. That kind of spike set off alarms at the USDA’s Office of Inspector General, triggering a full-scale probe.

SNAP benefits are funded by federal tax dollars and administered by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Benefits are transferred electronically to authorized retailers only when eligible food items are purchased. Cash exchanges are flatly prohibited. Yet Monarca-Gonzalez turned the store into a de facto EBT black market, undermining a program designed to fight hunger and exploiting the trust of both taxpayers and legitimate recipients.

Monarca-Gonzalez has been locked up since his arrest on August 18, 2016. He now faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and full restitution when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on March 1, 2017. The case underscores how fraudsters exploit safety net programs—and how aggressively federal agents are cracking down.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anastasia King and Neeraj Patel are prosecuting the case. As the feds clean house, Monarca-Gonzalez’s fall serves as a warning: SNAP fraud won’t go unnoticed, and the price of stealing from the poor and the public is steep.