While Mervat Gharib may have been the owner of Capital City Family Market, and Adam Rashwan may have only been an employee, this husband-and-wife team were equal partners in a million-dollar scheme to not only steal from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the U.S. taxpayer as well.
In May 2021, data from USDA Food and Nutrition Service revealed that City Family Market had processed 408 individual SNAP transactions totaling $96,908.46 with an average transaction amount of $238.86. Way above average transactions that triggered a red flag for the USDA. To compare, the average SNAP transaction amount during the same time for convenience stores in Pennsylvania was $11.58, and for small grocery stores was $23.16. An investigation of Capital City Family Market ensued.
From January 2014 through June 2021, Capital City Family Market received approximately $1,806,761 in SNAP benefits. But the investigation revealed that from January 2011 through June 2021, Rashwan and Gharib illegally diverted approximately $1,091,822.05 of those SNAP benefits by food stamp trafficking – an illegal exchange when the retailer allows customers to exchange SNAP benefits for cash while charging the customer a significant percentage of the amount of unlawful transactions. Basically, it’s a fraudsters surcharge on recipients for using benefits in unallowable ways.
On May 21, 2025, Gharib and Rashwan, now divorced, were each sentenced to almost two years in prison for SNAP fraud. They were also ordered to pay restitution to the USDA’s SNAP program in the amount of $1,091,822.05.
Excellent job by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General – Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “2 former Harrisburg merchants sentenced to prison for $1M in food stamp fraud” published WGAL8 News on May 22, 2025.
Two former Harrisburg merchants were sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in prison for defrauding the U.S. out of more than $1 million in food stamp benefits, according to the Department of Justice. Adam Rashwan, 63, and Mervant Gharib, 60 – formerly husband and wife – previously pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of benefits.
Gharib owned the Capital City Family Market in the 2000 block of North 6th Street, and Rashwan was an employee. Prosecutors said the pair engaged in a scheme to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Federal Food Stamp Program.
