Food Stamp/SNAP Fraud

When you think of father-son activities, perhaps fishing, playing catch, camping, watching a sporting event or working on a car together come to mind. A Campden County, N.J., father-son duo had a different idea. The ringleader of a Gloucester City drug ring and his...

Russel Leroy Dotson, Jr., 63, of Jacksonville, Fla., and his wife, Maria Luisa Dotson, 66, have been sentenced after conspiring to commit wire fraud against the U.S Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Dotson couple owned two Asmarina Food Mart locations in...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) is designed to end hunger among Americans with limited means. SNAP provides financial benefits via Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, to purchase only food at authorized stores (Unless the grocery is...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides government benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency. Individuals must qualify to receive these benefits, so it’s particularly egregious that an economic support specialist with...

At Seafood and More in Danville, Va., you can order up some frog legs, jumbo shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and even alligator if you’re adventurous. And apparently, in the past, SNAP benefits were also available for market price. (I can guarantee you that particular...

One of the most fraudulent uses of food stamps is selling them in exchange for cash or other unapproved items. A recent Missouri case focuses on two individuals selling methamphetamine (definitely an unapproved item) in exchange for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Co-defendants Melanie...

Fraudsters are always chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow. (Sometimes they find a pot of government benefits and sometimes they just find a conviction.) A Worcester, Mass. plumber used his company to hide a large-scale marijuana business. (Do you get where...

A New Jersey couple is rolling the dice on a court decision as to whether their bankruptcy status protects them from having to repay the federal nutrition benefits program that prosecutors say they defrauded. Mustafa and Rahime Ozturk, both in their 30s, were charged last...

Two operators of a deli in Rochester, N.Y, supplemented their profits through food stamp fraud. Hicham Khallad and Karim Euchi let customers trade Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in exchange for cigarettes and other non-food items. (Did they think government benefits were supposed...

What’s lower than stealing candy from a baby? Two government employees guilty of Women Infants and Children (WIC) program fraud. The WIC program, which falls under the oversight of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), is a special supplemental nutrition program that...