I’m guessing they are Indians this time. Longtime readers know that this type of food stamp fraud appears to be rampant throughout the US where immigrants run ‘mom and pop’ convenience stores. This is not little stuff like buying goods that aren’t allowed on food stamps, these are generally busts involving hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars when card holders are given cash at 50 cents on the dollar by the store clerk. The scammers then submit the full dollar for reimbursement from you—the taxpayer.
From Mid Hudson News:
KINGSTON – Two men are under arrest, charged in connection with a 10 month investigation into fraud and potential money laundering, Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from state taxpayers through the operation, it is alleged.
Kuldeep Singh and Surinder Kumar have been charged have been charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, felony misuse of food stamps, falsifying business records in the first degree and scheme to defraud in the first degree.
The charges allege the men, along with another individual, Kanwarjit Sing, have been operating an extensive food stamp fraud and unregistered money service business out of the Sunoco Convenient Mart on Broadway in the City of Kingston.
Kingston Police officers conducted a sting operation with undercover officers using food stamp cards to purchase alcoholic beverages, gasoline, cigarettes and in exchange for money.
For each transaction, the men would skim 50 percent profit, which would be reimbursed by the state.
For more details, visit Mid Hudson News.
I suspect the E-2 Treaty Investor program should be investigated as the source for all the convenience stores owned by immigrants, as I have mentioned many times previously. If you have a little seed money to invest you can get into the US from certain countries, buy a convenience store and start the money factory for oneself.
For the dozens of locations in the US where we have observed this form of fraud, use our search function for ‘food stamp fraud’ and it will return pages of posts on the scam—-all virtually set up the same way.