Tag: Maryland

Maryland site being considered as refugee camp for unaccompanied minors

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update:  Just got word that this MD site has been rejected—where else might they go in MD?  Ask your local government if they have gotten a letter!

Maryland’s only Republican Congressman is on record opposing the choice.  And, LOL! knowing those Carroll County Tea Party-type activists there will be one hell-u-va protest if the feds go forward with this one!  There is a lot of pent-up anger here in Maryland!

Vacant Army Reserve facility in Westminster, MD

Here is the news at WBAL.TV:

WESTMINSTER, Md. —The Obama administration is eyeing a vacant Army reserve facility in Westminster as a possible shelter for illegal immigrant children, and it’s meeting strong opposition from local officials and at least one member of Congress.

There were no demonstrations yet in Westminster, but the opposition is just as strong as elsewhere in the country. Elected officials in Carroll County vehemently oppose using a vacant Army reserve building on Malcolm Drive to house the children, even temporarily. The Department of Health and Human Services would handle the operation.

“I don’t think it’s the right place. I don’t think it’s the right time. The bottom line is the community doesn’t want it. The representatives in Congress don’t want it the Department of Health and Human Services shouldn’t be looking at it,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-District 1.

Harris said if the Obama administration ignores the local opposition, he’s prepared to use his position on the House Appropriations Committee to stop the proposal from going further.

Wouldn’t this make the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service happy, happy, happy, since they are headquartered in Maryland and they are being paid to take care of the “children.”

Unfortunately, word is spreading that some of the latest wave of illegal migrants (now being called “refugees”) are already in “welcoming” Maryland.

Go here for the ever-expanding archive on the ‘unaccompanied minors’ invasion of America.

 

Maryland: Asylum fraud case busted, 70 fake asylum seekers involved

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Mugshot for Gasim Manafov from NC (assume this is our man)

We don’t know how many of the seventy fraudulent asylum claims were actually approved, but yesterday the ring leader,  Gasim Manafov, was sentenced to a measly 18 months in prison for his role in helping them prepare their lies for immigration rulings.  Two co-conspirators got one and three months respectively.   No mention of the deportation for the criminals after release from prison.

And, I wonder who were the immigration lawyers Manafov must have worked with!

Just a reminder: once someone is granted asylum they become “refugees” with extensive welfare benefits available to them.  They also can avail themselves of the ‘services’ of the refugee resettlement contractors.

From WBOC-16.   Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers:’

BALTIMORE, Md.- An Ocean City Man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release for conspiring to commit immigration fraud, federal prosecutors announced.

According to his plea agreement, 36-year-old Gasim Manafov, both of Ocean City, and Charlotte, N.C.. worked with others in assisting about 70 people in fraudulently applying for asylum benefits from 2007 to 2012. The plea agreement stated Manafov gave fake stories, complete with fake foreign documents, to describe how the person’s family was hurt or killed due to their political or ethnic background. Court documents show Manafov prepared the applicants for interviews and then attended the interviews.

The plea agreement also stated Manafov referred applicants to a co-conspirator knowing that they would engage in a fraudulent marriage for immigration purposes. Court documents also said Manafov suggested a woman apply for immigration benefits to avoid further trouble and coached her on how to lie when asked about it. The agreement said Manafov received $210,000 from those who fraudulently applied for asylum benefits.

Two other conspirators previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and were sentenced to one and three months in prison, respectively.

The ICE press release on the case is here.

Every time I see a story like this one I want to know where the criminal is from and how he came to be legally in America.  It is a very rare story that ever mentions that (this one does not).

Checking around for the name Manafov, look at this very cool graphic I found!  It is only the web popularity of the name, but check it out here.  There is also a similar graphic for the name Gasim and it is a first name in several Muslim countries.

Asylum fraud is turning out to be one of the hottest immigration topics going these days.  See some of our recent posts on the crooks and cheats by clicking here.

Baltimore: Two citizens of Yemen plead guilty to $2 million in food stamp fraud

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Baltimore convenience store where Yemenis ripped off US taxpayers for millions. You can’t make this up!

This is an update of a story we reported here last September.

Big questions for me are:  What legal immigration program allowed them to enter the country and set up these stores, participate in SNAP?  Did they send the money out of the country?  And, will they be deported after serving their time?  This article says they can get 20 years, but in all the cases I’ve seen, crooks like these were back out running the store again within a couple of years.

Note to readers, we have been following food stamp fraud perpetrated by immigrant scammers for years as a side interest at RRW, but now we have one place to gather such stories and that is a facebook page—Diversity’s Dark Side (‘Like’ it).

From the Examiner (Hat tip: Robin):

Two foreign citizens residing in Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to committed fraud in connection with a scheme to illegally redeem food stamp benefit in exchange for cash over three years and obtained a significant amount of money in payments for food sales that never occurred.

Abdullah Aljaradi, (52), and Ahmed Ayedh Al-Jabrati, (58), both citizens of Yemen, operated in two convenience stores of Baltimore City –Second Obama Express and D&M Deli and Grocery–, located next door to each other at 901 Harlem Avenue where the illegal transactions were committed.

According to their plea agreements and court documents, the stores participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program. Both Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati knew that it was a violation of SNAP regulations to trade cash for SNAP benefits. Nevertheless, from October 2010 to July 2013, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati exchanged SNAP benefits for cash at less than face value of the EBT benefits, in violation of the food stamp program rules, and kept up to 50 percent of the benefits for themselves.

[…..]

The indictment alleges that as a result of these unlawful cash transactions, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati obtained more than $2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred.

While the Court will determine the actual amount of the financial loss for the purpose of calculating the sentencing guidelines, restitution, and forfeiture, any money judgment ordered by the Court will not be less than $259,344.15, the funds seized from the stores and from two bank accounts associated with the stores.

For our complete archive on food stamp fraud, click here.

Ahmed and Abdulmalik busted in Baltimore food stamp fraud scheme

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This one was a $1.5 million rip-off of the US taxpayer.

The Baltimore Sun doesn’t say much, but here (below) is the entire FBI press release that I found informative.  Note that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was involved, so there must be an immigration angle to the case.   But, of course, no mention of details regarding where these alleged crooks came from!  We have our guesses!  LOL! See a pattern?

For new readers this is a hobby here at RRW.  See our previous report on another big bust in our home state. It is good to know that even in blue Maryland the feds are ferreting out the fraudsters.

From the FBI yesterday (highlights are mine):

BALTIMORE—Abdulmalik Abdulla, age 37, and Ahmed Mohssen, age 53, both of Baltimore, were arrested today on federal charges of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to illegally redeem food stamp benefits in exchange for cash. The criminal complaint filed today alleges that the defendants, who operate Sam’s NY grocery store on North Milton Street in Baltimore, received more than $1.5 million in federal payments for transactions in which they did not provide any food but instead split the proceeds with food stamp recipients. Federal agents arrested the defendants and executed search warrants at the store and related locations today. In separate cases, 10 defendants were charged with food stamp fraud in September 2013; four of those defendants have pleaded guilty, and the others are awaiting trial.

The arrests were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William G. Squires, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region; and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Retailers who trade food stamp credits for cash are on notice that federal authorities are on their trail,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Taxpayers fund the program to provide food for needy recipients, not to turn retail store cash registers into ATMs.”

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program, is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), together with state agencies. The program funds low-income individuals to allow them to obtain a more nutritious diet. In Maryland, the program provides eligible individuals with an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card called the Independence Card, which operates like a debit card. Recipients use the EBT card to purchase approved food items from participating retailers.

Retailers must apply to and be approved by FNS to participate in the program. Authorized retailers use a point-of-sale terminal that checks the EBT card information and deducts the cash value of the purchase from the customer’s SNAP benefit balance. SNAP reimbursements are paid to retailers through electronic funds transfers. Retailers bill the government in return for providing approved food items. SNAP retailers, including the defendants, receive instruction regarding the requirements and regulations of the food stamp program, such as that only eligible food items can be exchanged for EBT benefits and that a retailer may never exchange EBT benefits for cash or non-food items.

The criminal complaint alleges that the defendants exchanged EBT benefits for cash, typically paying half the value of the EBT benefits in cash. As a result of unlawful cash transactions, the defendants allegedly obtained more than $1.5 million in EBT deposits for transactions in which the store did not provide food.

The defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud. The defendants are expected to have initial appearances at 3:45 p.m. today in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.  [Wire fraud??? Does that mean money left the country?—ed]

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the USDA Office of Inspector General and FBI for their work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Rosenstein expressed appreciation to Secretary Ted Dallas and the Maryland Department of Human Resources, as well as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services-Office of Fraud Detection and National Security for their assistance in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin, who is prosecuting the case.

See our extensive archive of similar cases from sea to shining sea!

Related:  See Washington Times Golden Hammer award earlier this month.  And, from Breitbart—able-bodied people with no dependents signing up in droves—have they figured out how to use the cards for cash?  I bet they have.

Busy in Maryland….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is where I’ve been ….

Maryland Conservative Action Network Conference largest ever.

…..Presence of anti-jihad leader and defender of free speech, Pamela Geller, helped swell the size of the audience.

MD CAN organizers were delighted with the record-breaking turnout at Saturday’s Turning the Tides Conference 2013.   The number of attendees topped 270 with last minute registrants who heard about the fuss the Council on American-Islamic Relations was making to try to stop Geller’s appearance and to bully other speakers to back out of speaking and not take part.  (No one backed out!).

Read it all.

And, now I want to get back to my favorite work—writing here about LEGAL immigration gone awry.