Regular readers know that an issue that interests me ever since we had a food stamp scam bust where we live—Mohammad Khan is now in prison—is the issue of immigrants from a certain region of the world scamming the US taxpayer by ripping off the food stamp program. Today’s report comes from Connecticut and is small peanuts compared to some of the scams we have noted in our archive on food stamp scams.
A Hamden couple who swindled the federal Food Stamp Program was sentenced in federal court in Bridgeport Monday. The couple owns and operates the Lucky 7 corner store at 253 Davenport Ave. in the Hill.
Abdul Hakim Musaed, 45, and Nadia Ali Haider, 29, pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to commit Food Stamp fraud,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He was sentenced to four months in prison. She was sentenced to four months’ home confinement.
The couple allowed Food Stamp recipients to buy ineligible items, including beer and cigarettes, as well as redeem their food stamps for cash, from a period between Aug. 2005 and Jan. 2007, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall ordered the couple to pay the government over $56,000 in restitution.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Henry Kopel.
The gist of the scam is that immigrants from a certain region of the world open up ‘mom & pop’ convienence stores and small gas stations (I swear this is organized abroad! They probably give seminars in how to do it!). People who want cash instead of stamps offer their stamps for sale at 50 cents on the dollar. They get 50 cents and the scammer turns the stamps in for the full one dollar from the feds (well, us, the taxpayer).
Notice anything suspicious? Report it to your local police and follow-up on whether they reported it to federal authorities. All it takes is a little vigilance on the part of local citizens!