Readers, most of the Somalis in the US are here as refugees, or family members of refugees. After Minnesota, Ohio is a destination of choice for Somalis as secondary migrants where they move to create Somali enclaves. The population in some Ohio cities is rapidly expanding.
LOL! In fact David Lubell and his ‘Welcoming America’ group of community organizers has been pushing Cleveland as a mecca of immigrant entrepreneurial economic activity!
Although we have had a few food stamp fraud busts in the past that specifically mention the fact that your taxpayer dollars are being sent out of the country, it is still rare for the feds to mention that part of the fraud scheme.
From WKYC.com (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):
CLEVELAND — Four men from Northeast Ohio were charged in a five-count indictment with engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the food stamp and Women, Infants and Children programs from a store on Detroit Avenue in Cleveland, law enforcement officials said.
Indicted are: Bashir Mohammed, 31, of Cleveland; Yusuf Maalin, 45, of Cleveland; Ali Shire Ahmed, 54, of North Olmsted, Ohio; and Farah Hasan Warsame, 27, of Cleveland. [I could find no photos of the perps, but from these names we believe they are all Somalis, they generally live together and commit crimes with their own kind.—ed]
The indictment alleges that Mohamed, Maalin, Ahmed, and Warsame conspired to illegally allow customers to redeem food stamp and WIC benefits at Bashir Market, 8401 Detroit Avenue, in exchange for cash, ineligible items, and credit towards overseas wire transfers.
Mohamed, Maalin, and Warsame allegedly worked at the market and redeemed the food stamp and WIC benefits for the cash, unauthorized items, or credit towards overseas funds transfers. The credit for overseas funds transfers was tracked on a ledger kept at the market, according to the indictment.
Mohamed or Maalin would then provide Ahmed with cash or a check that Ahmed would take to Columbus to send overseas by wire transfer.
The indictment alleges that the conspiracy involved the attempted redemption of approximately $670,612 in food stamp and WIC benefits, according to the indictment.
See all of our posts in our immigrant-run food stamp fraud archive by clicking here.