Dominican Man Living In Worcester Indicted For Fraud, Identity Theft

WORCESTER, MA — A Dominican national who was living in Worcester was indicted for using other people’s identities to fraudulently receive more than $100,000 in emergency rental assistance funds related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts.

Felix Mercedes-Castillo, 35, was indicted on five counts of theft of government money and three counts of aggravated identity theft. Mercedes-Castillo used the identities of other people to apply for Emergency Rental Assistance Program funding, according to court records.

To obtain funding, he claimed that applicants were landlords and tenants of rental properties in Massachusetts and needed ERAP funds, the USAO said.

Court records said he used ERAP applications, copies of identifying records, and Social Security cards belonging to the individuals. One of those people was someone who had been dead for more than a year, the USAO said.

Mercedes-Castillo is currently serving a state prison sentence for unrelated offenses and will appear in federal court in Worcester at a later date, according to the USAO.

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