This is one more in my ever-growing archive of food stamp fraud cases involving immigrant-owned or managed convenience stores in the US.
And, home health care frauds are starting to pop-up more frequently too. Honestly, I think there are seminars taught abroad on how to get into the US and set up a scam!
Here is the latest story from Flint, Michigan on food stamp trafficking. This guy got $750,000 of your tax dollars! And, he somehow was previously guilty of immigration fraud and visa fraud. So how did he even get permission to transact food stamp purchases?
Flint, MI – The owner of a west Flint market was convicted today in Flint federal court for conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud after witnesses testified he paid cash in exchange or food stamp benefits.
Jurors returned the guilty verdict against Noha T. Fofana after evidence showed that his store, Mandingo African Market, redeemed more than $750,000 in food stamp benefits between February 2009 and July 2011.
An analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that the market’s average food stamp redemption amount was $26,798 per month – compared to an average of $5,479 monthly redemption for other convenience stores within a .8 mile radius.
The United States Attorney Office of the Eastern District of Michigan claimed that Fofana and Akhir McFarland, who had previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in federal court, conspired to manually enter Bridge Card numbers, a debit card-like device that electronically tracks benefits, and PINs order to transfer the benefits to the market’s bank account.
I sure would love to see how he managed the immigration fraud, so if anyone happens to come across that send it my way!
Immigration authorities must be notified of the conviction.
Fofana, who also goes by the name Nganio Fofana, previously served time after being convicted of visa fraud and unlawfully obtaining naturalization in federal court.
Home health care fraud may be even a greater scam!
When I visited the website of the US Attorney Office of the Eastern District of Michigan looking for more information on the above case, I saw this July press release about an Indian couple indicted in a HUGE Medicare scam case. I’m telling you there is some international cabal (and it probably involves some US immigration attorneys) teaching ‘Scams 101,’ subtitled suckering the US taxpayer!
A federal indictment was unsealed today in Detroit charging two individuals for their participation in a series of separate Medicare fraud schemes involving home health services, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Edward Hanko of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh, III of the HHS-OIG Office of Investigation.
Charged in the indictment were Usha Shah, 63, and Deepak Shah, 63, both of West Bloomfield, Michigan. According to the indictment the Shahs were allegedly involved in fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare totaling more than $8.8 million through their company, Miracle Home Health of Southfield, for home health care services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided.
In addition, the court documents allege that the Shahs engaged in a conspiracy to pay cash kickbacks in return for obtaining Medicare beneficiaries’ whose Medicare identifications were used to bill the Medicare program.
For more stories here at RRW on food stamp fraud, a side interest of mine, just type those words into our search function and dozens of previous posts will appear.