The fraud in the food stamp program is so rampant and easy to commit, we’ve become a global magnet for grifters who immigrate and set up shop to cash in on money for food stamps.
This program is ripe for reform but what’s most disturbing is the very lenient penalty for the crime of food stamp fraud. The fraudsters are usually given a very light jail sentence and ordered to pay back the money. The problem is that the money has probably gone overseas and will NEVER be paid back. These grifters fade into the woodwork only to resurface when they reoffend.
THE TOP 5 FOOD STAMP FRAUD CASES FROM 2017:
The food stamp program is a federally-funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and federal investigators are most often the ones who catch those engaged in fraudulent activities..
Investigators often uncover millions of dollars worth of food stamp fraud, mostly from people who run convenience stores in low-income areas where many patrons receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
To show how many millions of dollars these criminals have taken away from the federal government, here are the 5 biggest takedowns of food stamp fraud of 2017.
IMMIGRANT FRAUD IS THE COMMON THREAD!
1. Ohio Convenience Store Owner Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for $2.8 Million in Food Stamp Fraud
A former Ohio convenience store owner got caught carrying out a $2.8 million food stamp fraud scheme where he allowed benefit recipients to exchange their food stamps for cash.
The USDA revealed in an audit that the store, Breaden Market, cashed in on SNAP benefits more than ten times the amount of larger stores in the area, raising red flags among investigators.
A judge eventually convicted and sentenced George Rafidi, 62, to 33 months in prison in February and ordered him to pay that $2.8 million back.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/27/former-store-owner-sentenced-33-months-prison-2-8-million-food-stamp-fraud/
2. Florida Investigators Discover More than $20 Million in Food Stamp Fraud
The agency said it uncovered the majority of fraud when paging through SNAP benefit applications stating fraudulent household information.
3. Baltimore Man Sentenced to Four Years for $3.7 Million Food Stamp Fraud
A Baltimore store owner got slapped with a four-year prison sentence for carrying out $3.7 million worth of food stamp fraud.
Mohammad Shafiq, 51, was one of 14 other Baltimore-area retailers sentenced for $16 million worth of food stamp fraud, where they exchanged SNAP benefits for cash.
The judge ordered Shafiq to pay back that $3.7 million to the federal government and serve three years of supervised release following the end of his sentence.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/05/20/baltimore-man-sentenced-to-4-years-owes-3-7-million-for-food-stamp-fraud/
4. Three Wisconsin Men Who Carried Out $1.2 Million Food Stamp Fraud Sentenced to Hard Time
A judge sentenced three Milwaukee, Wisconsin, convenience store owners—Kanwar Gill, 67, Raviinder Gill, 27, and George Nance, 59—to prison terms ranging from 15-20 months in October after the three had been found guilty of exchanging cash for SNAP benefits.
Their store, Quick N EZ, had been an authorized retailer that accepts food stamp benefits, but the $1.2 million in benefits the store redeemed was far beyond the amount the small convenience store was expected to redeem.
Records show that all three men had been ordered to pay back the $1.2 million in fraudulently earned money.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/01/three-food-stamp-fraudsters-bagged-1-2-million-sent-prison/
5. An Iraqi immigrant pleaded guilty to $1.4 million in food stamp fraud in November for conspiring with others to defraud the U.S. government.
Ali Ratib Daham, 40, of Maine, gave customers cash in exchange for SNAP and Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program benefits. He then redeemed the full value of the benefits to obtain more money from the government fraudulently.
The naturalized U.S. citizen is expected to face a harsh prison sentence for his crime—he faces up to 20 years behind bars and will most likely be expected to pay back the $1.4 million to the government
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/11/29/iraqi-immigrant-pleads-guilty-1-4-million-food-stamp-fraud/
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/12/25/the-seven-biggest-takedowns-of-food-stamp-fraud-in-2017/
MUSLIM IMMIGRANT Welfare Fraud Has Exploded… Latest Shop Owner, Ali Ratib Daham, Stole $1 Million!
The cases of fraud, money laundering and theft of American tax dollars by Muslim immigrants is outrageous! The list just keeps on growing…Why? Because the punishment is just a slap on the hand and these people are NEVER deported!
The case below is just the latest in a string of Muslim immigrants who take advantage of our system:
A man accused of running a welfare scam out of a Portland halal grocery is pleading guilty. The market sells meat permissible under Muslim law. According to federal court documents, Ali Ratib Daham is pleading guilty to federal food stamp and other welfare fraud. He is also admitting to money laundering and theft from the state’s MaineCare program. Daham is agreeing to a jail sentence of at least 33 months and will pay more than $1 million in restitution to the government. In exchange, prosecutors are agreeing to drop dozens of other charges in the case.The plea deal will be considered in federal district court Tuesday. The guilty plea could cause him to be deported.
They never deport these people, and tell me how is he going to repay $1 million when I’ll bet the money was moved abroad a long time ago. Yes, these crooks send the money back home!
America is a global magnet for all of the goodies we give immigrants. Did you know the feds give money to these people to start a small business? They then screw the system and make off with millions…Taxpayers should be outraged!
http://fox23maine.com/news/local/portland-shop-owner-pleads-guilty-to-welfare-fraud
Brothers charged with stealing 3.5 million in welfare fraud through their store in Portland, Maine.
The owner of the Ahram Halal Market in Portland and his brother were indicted Tuesday on charges that they conspired to defraud the federal government of tens of thousands of dollars intended to benefit low-income families, women and children.
Ali Ratib Daham, 40, and Abdulkareem Daham, 21, both of Westbrook, are named in the federal indictment issued in U.S. District Court in Portland. The charges against Ali Daham also include wire fraud, money laundering and theft of government funds.
The conspiracy took place from July 2011 through April 2016 at the market at 630 Forest Ave., court documents say. The indictment alleges that during that period, the Dahams transferred $3.5 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funds into a checking account. The account included a mixture of legitimate SNAP transactions as well as “proceeds from fraudulent SNAP transactions,” court records say.
The indictment also says that about $683,986 in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, funds were transferred into Ali Daham’s checking account and included a mixture of legitimate as well as fraudulent transactions.
SNAP, a federal program formerly known as food stamps, is designed to raise the level of nutrition among low-income households. WIC is a federal program that provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition for certain low-income women, and to infants and children as old as 5 who are determined to be nutritionally at risk.
“It was further part of the conspiracy that the defendants used some of the SNAP and WIC receipts from fraudulent transactions to purchase food inventory, to pay for the store’s operating expenses and for their personal use,” the indictment alleges.”
http://www.pressherald.com/2017/04/25/westbrook-brothers-indicted-on-federal-welfare-benefits-trafficking-charges/
NY Muslim Deli Owner Charged with Food Stamps Fraud… Wife Yells ‘F*ck America’
NY Deli Owner Ahmed Alshami Charged with Food Stamps Fraud, Wife Yells F*ck America
Ahmed Alshami, owner of a Buffalo, New York deli, is being held on $2 million bail after being arraigned last week on food stamp fraud and burglary charges.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/09/05/ny-deli-owner-ahmed-alshami-charged-food-stamps-fraud-wife-yells-fck-america/
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