Tag: food stamp fraud

Philadelphia: Afghan convenience store clerk alleged to have terror ties

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We don’t know if he is a refugee, but even so, he presumably got in here through one of our misguided legal immigration programs.  And, when the feds are at it they should check if any food stamp fraud was going on at the convenience store (was any of your money sent out of the country?).  LOL! Maybe he came across one of our borders?

Party of Islam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezb-e_Islami_Gulbuddin

Be sure to see our complete archive on EBT fraud by mostly Muslims trafficking in food stamps, here.

Feds allege he lied. So what else is new?  From Philly.com (hat tip: Robin):

A convenience store clerk was charged today in federal court with immigration fraud for failing to disclose his ties to a terrorist group on an application for U.S. citizenship.

Hayatullah Dawari, 62, is an Afghan citizen who has lived in Northeast Philadelphia since 2008.

Dawari allegedly has a connection to Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), an anti-Western insurgent group active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said federal prosecutors. HIG, which is closely associated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, took credit for a 2008 assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and has advocated for the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic state, according to published reports.

In May 2013, a spokesman for HIG announced the group planned to step up its campaign of violent jihad to include more suicide attacks, according to the federal indictment.

Dawari, a permanent legal resident of the U.S., applied for citizenship in November 2013. On a required questionnaire, Dawari checked a “no” box when asked if he had ever been “a member of or associated with any organization, association, fund, foundation, party, club, society or similar group in the United States or in any other place?” The question requires the applicant to note any and all affiliations with professional, non-professional or religious organizations.

By the way, we brought (to a town near you) just over 600 “refugees” from Afghanistan this year so far, here.  Wow! Just noticed we have resettled over 7,000 Somalis as of July 31 as well!  Yikes!

West Palm Beach, FL food stamp fraud: Lebanese brothers rip-off US taxpayers for millions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We haven’t written much about food stamp fraud lately.  Longtime readers know that it has been a ‘hobby’ of mine to follow immigrants scamming our Department of Agriculture not for little stuff, but for the big bucks reaped from trafficking in food stamps.

I’m posting this case, because it’s big, because they sent millions to Lebanon, and because we have so many new readers who may not know about this side interest here at RRW.  And, because I am sick of writing about the “chiiildruun!”

The article tells us that those taxpayer dollars sent out of the country are gone forever.  The two, presumably Muslim men, were ordered to pay restitution after their release from prison, but of course, that is a joke.

Most of the food stamp fraud cases we see are (and will be) posted at the facebook page:  Diversity’s Dark Side.

EBT Nation! Our go-to graphic when photos of the crooks are not available!

 From the Palm Beach Post:

WEST PALM BEACH —

Two Palm Beach County brothers who funneled millions in federal food stamp money back to their native Lebanon were sentenced to nearly six years in prison Thursday for scamming the program that is intended to feed the poor.

With engineering degrees from top universities, Ali Jaber, 52, and his 42-year-old brother, Hadi, could have become role models for fellow immigrants, prosecutor Carolyn Bell told U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks. Instead, they used their store, Fajita’s Meat & Fish on 10th Avenue North, to defraud the federal government.

Even their attorneys acknowledged that the two should have known better than to get involved in the scam. Instead of charging customers’ debit-style food stamp cards for groceries, the brothers gave the customers cash. They charged customers as much as 50 percent commission for the service and were reimbursed by the government for the bogus transactions.

“He should have known better at his age and with his education,” said attorney Fred Haddad, who represents Ali Jaber, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

[….]

Most of the money was sent to banks in Beirut, Lebanon, where the Jabers have relatives, according to court documents. That money, government officials say, is impossible to retrieve.

 

If you suspect food stamp fraud in your local immigrant-run convenience store, you can report your suspicions here (That post is nearly a year old, so hope the phone numbers are still good!).  This West Palm Beach investigation got underway thanks to a Grandma’s tip!   Note that those who sold their benefits were also arrested!

Our entire food stamp fraud archive (going back at least 6 years is here).   Some wannabe blogger should really create a whole blog on immigrant-run convenience store food stamp fraud.  You would have hot news to post everyday!   And, I truly believe there is training abroad to teach would-be scammers how to buy convenience stores/mom & pop gas stations in the US, get in the country legally, and set up the fraud.  We are such suckers!

Tell Rush about this, doesn’t he live around here?

NY: Yemeni arrested on terrorism charges, wanted to kill US soldiers in Rochester

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Some more of that “vibrant diversity” coming to a city near you!  

US Marshals lead Mufid Elfgeeh out of federal court. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2014/06/02/man-accused-in-rochester-of-plotting-to-kill-soldiers/9882037/

He supposedly wanted to kill some Shiite Muslims in Rochester too! (Diversity is not beautiful to Sunnis.)

Who knows how this apparently legal immigrant got into the US, but the feds should check if his convenience store was ripping off US taxpayers while they are at it!

From AP at the Wall Street Journal:

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A New York business owner from Yemen plotted vengeance attacks against members of the U.S. military for American actions overseas and Shiite Muslims over the civil war in Syria, according to federal authorities.

Federal authorities said in court papers that Mufid Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, bought two handguns and two silencers as part of a plan to kill members of the U.S. armed forces returning from war, as well as Shiites in the Rochester area.

Elfgeeh was arrested Saturday and faces two counts of receiving and possessing an unregistered firearm silencer.

Check it out, he ran a convenience store too!

Elfgeeh, a naturalized U.S. citizen who operates Halal Mojo and Food Mart in Rochester, paid the informant $1,050 in the transaction completed Saturday afternoon and was immediately arrested for possession of the silencers not registered in his name.

We haven’t reported much on immigrant food stamp fraud lately, but click here for our archives where we have posted dozens and dozens of cases over the years.

 

Michigan: Burmese now scamming food stamp program

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Longtime readers know we follow food stamp fraud as a hobby here at RRW.  Most fraud stories we come across don’t involve refugees per se (mostly other legal immigrants of one sort or another) and we have been posting them over to the facebook page, ‘Diversity’s Dark Side’, here.

Golden Burma Asian Grocery where cash from Uncle Sam was available to the Burmese refugee population until recently.

Now, here is a story, thanks again to ‘pungentpeppers,’ from earlier this month about Burmese in Lansing, Michigan catering to the large Burmese population there and offering an opportunity for the refugees to cash in on food stamp fraud.

Just a reminder that we have, in the last ten years, resettled about 100,000 Burmese in the US.  Give a large number of certain ethnic groups a few years and they will begin to figure out how to scam good ol’ Uncle Sam.

From the Lansing State Journal (emphasis mine):

GRAND RAPIDS — The co-owner of a now-closed Lansing Asian grocery store has pleaded guilty in federal court to food stamp fraud and will pay about $41,000 in restitution, court records show.

The case against Aye Aye Soe, who owned Golden Burma Asian Grocery and Gifts with her husband, began last year with prosecutors alleging nearly $300,000 in food stamp fraud. But a plea agreement filed in March says the federal government lost between $30,000 and $70,000.

Attorney:  It was a cultural misunderstanding!

Soe’s attorney, Bill Hankins, said his client made mistakes that resulted from not paying attention to detail. He also said there were cultural misunderstandings.

A plea hearing was held Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. Soe admitted paying customers cash in exchange for swiping their Bridge Cards for a larger amount.   [She will pay restitution but serve no jail time!—ed]

Then get this next section of the report!  If it was needed for their “Burmese culture,”  it is somehow o.k. ?  Since when are blankets and makeup something especially culturally important to the Burmese?  Doesn’t everyone need blankets and makeup?  And, why is that any excuse ?

Hankins said Soe, a native of Burma who has become a U.S. citizen, mostly served the area’s large Burmese community.

[….]

Soe also admitted allowing customers to use their Bridge Cards to buy items that were not eligible for reimbursement, court documents say. Hankins said items included blankets and makeup — something he said is important in Burmese culture.

Ninety percent of the stores business was through the use of food stamp debit cards (!), and since most of the customers were Burmese, sure looks like it is widespread food stamp fraud in the Burmese community of Lansing, MI.

Soe’s store on South Cedar Street opened in 2009, according to the indictment. Hankins said it was forced to close late last year after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program, removed the store’s Bridge Card machine. He said 90 percent of the store’s business was through Bridge Cards.

Ah, America!  The land of easy cash from the Bridge Card machines!

For our extensive food stamp fraud archive, click here.

 

 

 

Portland, OR: Lebanese family ripped-off US taxpayers, while some lived in Lebanon

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

These are apparently not “refugees” but some legal program allowed this family of crooks to live among us for years and steal from the taxpayers through social security, food stamp and healthcare fraud.

I’m bringing you this story for two reasons:  first the complexity of this immigrant ‘entrepreneur’ scam once again confirms that some immigrants are skilled (trained?) in how to tap into our welfare system, and secondly, every American should watch for such frauds in your home town and report them!  In this case, local pharmacy employees smelled a rat while the crooks made some dumb moves.

If an unemployed immigrant on welfare is driving a Mercedes like this one, it is a good tip-off for investigators!

From The Oregonian.  He applied for home health care for a mother who lived in Lebanon!    Hat tip: crime sleuth ‘pungentpeppers.’

Emphasis is mine:

An unemployed Southeast Portland man who reportedly wore lots of jewelry, flashed pictures of trips to Lebanon and owned a Mercedes was sentenced to six months of prison Wednesday for cashing disability checks for a sister who was living outside the United States.  [Only six months!—ed]

Jason I. Boutros, 49, must also pay nearly $221,000 in restitution to the Social Security Administration and the Oregon Department of Human Services, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ordered.

Boutros was one of four family members who, prosecutors said, bilked federal and state agencies of disability, Medicaid and food-stamp benefits over several years, collecting payments even as some lived in Lebanon for long stretches, making them ineligible.

Investigators began looking into Boutros’ payments in 2009 when he submitted a request to DHS seeking payment for providing home-care services for his mother in March of that year, court filings say. But the state learned his mother had been out of the country in March 2009.

Pharmacy employees blew the whistle!

The lifestyle of the Boutros family had raised questions by employees at the pharmacy where the family would pick up prescriptions, a sentencing memorandum states. One said Boutros wore “lots of jewelry” and showed photos of trips to Lebanon and another said she had reported him to a fraud hotline.

And when agents searched Boutros’ Southeast Portland home in April 2013, they found a Mercedes in the garage and a tanning bed in another building on the property, according to Cooper’s sentencing memorandum.

Read it all!

This and many other stories like it may be found every day at the facebook page ‘Diversity’s Dark Side.’   Check it out!  Like it!