A woman from the Dominican Republic was arrested after allegedly using a stolen U.S. citizen identity to collect roughly $800,000 in federal benefits over nearly two decades.
Federal prosecutors say Veronica Yaraset Molina, 51, has been charged with stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity and running a long-running campaign to access benefits she was not entitled to. She was arrested and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang, and officials say she has been unlawfully present in the United States since at least around 2000.
Authorities describe the scheme as spanning almost 20 years and involving multiple federal programs. Investigators say approximately $800,000 was obtained through Social Security disability benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Medicare benefits, and unemployment benefits that the defendant was not entitled to receive.
Yaraset Molina faces a stack of serious federal charges tied to those alleged crimes. She is charged with four counts of theft of government funds under 18 U.S.C. § 641, healthcare fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1347, passport fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1543, and aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, which carries a mandatory minimum two-year sentence to run consecutively to any other term.
“For nearly two decades, Veronica Yaraset Molina allegedly stole the identity of an American citizen and used it to loot federal benefit programs of nearly $800,000 in taxpayer funds,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “This Office will pursue those who defraud federal benefit programs.”
Officials say Molina repeatedly used the victim’s identity to apply for and receive benefits and even obtained a United States passport under the stolen identity. As a result of that identity theft scheme, Victim-1 was reportedly unable to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency benefits after Hurricane Maria in or about 2017, a consequence that underscores real harm to Americans when fraud goes unchecked.
“Veronica Yaraset Molina allegedly used a stolen identity to orchestrate a nearly 20-year fraud scheme to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits meant for vulnerable Americans,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas. “This kind of calculated fraud is not a victimless crime; it drains taxpayer resources, corrupts vital safety net programs, and inflicts lasting damage on innocent victims who are denied the assistance they need when disaster strikes. HSI New York, as a leading member of the Homeland Security Task Force New York, is fully committed to relentlessly pursuing fraudsters who exploit our systems and our communities, and we will continue to work side-by-side with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners to identify, dismantle, and bring to justice anyone who engages in this kind of predatory conduct.”
Investigators also highlighted the passport angle as part of the fraud, noting that Molina used the fraudulently obtained travel document to re-enter the United States from the Dominican Republic on multiple occasions. Law enforcement agencies emphasize that abusing travel documents undermines national security and the integrity of immigration and benefit systems.
“The Diplomatic Security Service mandate extends beyond protecting State Department people, property and information—it includes safeguarding the integrity of U.S. travel documents,” said DSS New York Field Office Special Agent in Charge Brian Wood. “Molina’s alleged use of a fraudulently obtained U.S. passport to repeatedly enter this country is exactly the kind of threat DSS is uniquely positioned to investigate, and we are proud to have worked alongside our law enforcement partners to bring this case to light.”
Prosecutors thanked multiple inspector general and law enforcement partners for assistance in building the case, and noted the charges are allegations until proven in court. They also pointed to broader enforcement efforts: on April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division to concentrate resources on fraud investigations, and the Department’s work on fraud ties into President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal programs.
