Vincent Bellomo, a 76-year-old resident of rural Nevis, Minnesota, has been sentenced after investigators discovered he had been hiding a substantial bank account while receiving public assistance. Bellomo reported having as little as $1.08 in savings on government paperwork, but the hidden account eventually held more than $77,000.
According to Wealth of Geeks, Bellomo was sentenced on Sept. 21 to prison terms of up to 15 months and ordered to pay $263,949 in restitution. The case also shows how state workers are using technology to uncover benefit fraud that might otherwise go unnoticed for years.
The criminal complaint filed in Hubbard County says Bellomo’s scheme began nearly a decade ago. He opened a savings account at Northwoods Bank on Oct. 25, 2017, with an initial deposit of $3,425. Over the next several years, the account became a place where Bellomo kept a significant amount of money, even though he did not report it on his annual state benefit renewal applications.
How the fraud unraveled
For years, his claims were processed because the amount of money he reported was below the asset limits for public assistance. That changed in May 2025, when a Hubbard County financial worker used an automated Asset Verification Service (AVS) report. The system flagged the Northwoods Bank account, which had never appeared on Bellomo’s applications.
When county officials questioned him about the account, Bellomo claimed the money belonged to his adult son, who had been added as an authorized agent. Officials asked Bellomo to provide documents supporting that explanation. He did not provide them.
A financial audit by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) then took a closer look at the account. Investigators found that $227,319 of the money that moved through it was used by or connected to Bellomo, while just over $32,000 was attributed to his son. His son also told investigators that Bellomo was the primary user of the account.
Things became even more suspicious as investigators continued looking into the money. In January 2025, Bellomo transferred $80,000 into a certificate of deposit. Then, by Aug. 12, 2025, most of the money had been withdrawn from the main account, leaving a balance of just $25.
The amount of public assistance Bellomo received over the years eventually added up to a staggering figure. Hubbard County officials calculated that he had received $263,949.46 in overpayments between 2017 and 2025.
The amount he received also increased in the later years of the alleged scheme. Records show Bellomo received $34,631.67 in 2023. That number jumped to $43,549.45 in 2024 alone.
Bellomo was initially charged with three felony counts of wrongfully obtaining public assistance and three felony counts of perjury for signing the renewal applications.
Under a plea agreement finalized in June, Bellomo pleaded guilty to the three public assistance felonies connected to his 2023, 2024 and 2025 renewals. Prosecutors agreed to drop the three perjury charges as part of the deal.
He will be placed under supervised probation
On Sept. 21, District Court Judge Eric P. Schieferdecker handed down Bellomo’s sentence. He received prison terms of 12, 13 and 15 months. However, the court stayed the prison sentences, meaning Bellomo will not immediately go to prison. Instead, he was placed on up to five years of supervised probation.
Bellomo still has to repay the full $263,949 debt to Minnesota taxpayers.
Published: Sep 22, 2026 01:32 pm