NORTH HAVERHILL — A West Lebanon couple has been indicted on felony charges of employment compensation fraud in connection with an alleged scheme in which the man’s girlfriend helped him collect benefits checks while he was incarcerated.
Hannah Vanalstyne, 41, has been charged in connection with committing unemployment compensation fraud in concert with Peter Mancini, 47.
On May 15, a Grafton County Grand Jury indicted Vanalstyne along with Mancini on felony charges of unemployment compensation fraud. In addition, she was indicted on a felony count of theft by receiving stolen property and Mancini on two felony counts of theft by deception.
The new charges come after Mancini was charged with two counts of unemployment compensation fraud last month. He entered no pleas at his arraignment in Littleton District Court.
If convicted, the couple could face up to seven and a half to 15 years in state prison, a fine, or both, for each felony.
From October 2025 through February 2026, Mancini allegedly submitted false unemployment claims to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, the Valley News previously reported.
Mancini had come to the attention of Department of Employment Security investigators around March “because he had been identified during a monthly review of jail rosters,” according to the affidavit in support of the charges.
Filing for unemployment in August 2025, Mancini falsely represented that an offer of employment was rescinded through no fault of his own after he “lost his job opportunity at Nissan of Lebanon because he had been caught on camera stealing parts from one of their trucks,” the affidavit states.
In January 2026, Mancini entered a guilty plea to receiving stolen property and probation violation — court records show he was on probation at the time for a 2022 felony conviction of witness tampering — and he was taken into custody that day to serve a six-month sentence in Grafton County Jail.
From when he was incarcerated in January through February 2026, police allege in the affidavit that Vanalystne, acting in concert with Mancini and at his request, certified weekly that he was “available to work” and was “physically and mentally able to work without any restrictions.”
Vanalstyne also attested on Mancini’s behalf that he was searching for jobs over this period. In Grafton County Jail, Mancini had not been permitted computer or internet access.
On Jan. 20, police say Mancini claimed he made an in-person job search at West Lebanon Feed and Supply.
“Investigators confirmed with the business that Mancini had not applied in person, nor had anyone done so on his behalf,” the affidavit states. “Furthermore, (Grafton County Jail) confirmed that Mancini was in their custody on January 20.”
Between January and February, Mancini’s calls from jail to Vanalstyne include numerous discussions about getting unemployment benefits, including asking and reminding her to file his weekly claims on the computer in their West Lebanon residence, according to police.
“The jail calls also show that Mancini asked Vanalstyne to apply for food stamps,” the affidavit states. “She refused.”
In total, Mancini received over $11,000 in unemployment compensation between October 2025 through February 2026, including over $2,000 between January and February while he was incarcerated.
When investigators met and interviewed Mancini in jail, he initially feigned ignorance on the weekly benefits filings during his incarceration, then suggested Vanalstyne filed them and ultimately requested to speak with an attorney before saying anything further, according to the affidavit.
During her interview with investigators at the West Lebanon residence she shared with Mancini, the affidavit states that Vanalstyne “admitted to making the claims because Mancini had asked her to.”
Both are scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill on June 8 at 9 a.m., Mancini virtually and Vanalstyne in-person.
Mancini is currently being held in Grafton County Jail while Vanalstyne is not incarcerated, according to the inmate locator website VINELink.
A voicemail left for Vanalstyne was not immediately returned on Wednesday. Court records show that she does not have an attorney.
Efforts to reach Mancini’s attorney, New Hampshire Public Defender Renee Sargent, and the Unemployment Fraud Prosecutor in both cases, John Gasaway with the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, were not immediately successful on Wednesday.
“The (Department of Employment Security) provides unemployment benefits to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own and investigates allegations of fraud to protect New Hampshire’s unemployment trust fund,” the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office stated in a news release on Tuesday.
