Store Owner Given 30-Month Federal Prison Sentence for Food Stamp Fraud
On Monday, a man in Illinois was slapped with a 2-and-a-half year federal prison sentence after he was found guilty of committing food stamp fraud.
Khaled Saleh, 48, owned Sunset Food Market in Waukegan and was charged with giving customers cash in exchange for the money that was on their electronic food stamp cards and nutrition coupons.
Investigators found that Saleh and his wife Fatima Saleh, 37, earned more than $844,000 by giving customers roughly half the amount found on the benefit cards in cash as well as paying customers for goods purchased at other stores that were bought using their state benefits. The couple would then resell the items in their store at a markup.
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Investigators with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General participated in the operation that saw the illegal exchanged of food stamp benefits for cash. They also used benefits to purchase merchandise at other stores, which were then resold by Saleh.
The couple pled guilty in August 2012 to conspiracy to defraud government programs after being arrested in May 2011.
Sentencing for Fatima Saleh was pushed back to March 22 while Saleh was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle.
The news comes shortly after a new program aims at extending food stamp benefits to pets of low income pet owners.
A new donation-based program is being launched called "Pet Food Stamps," which will look to provide food stamps for low-income pet owners, and for food stamp recipients who would not otherwise be able to feed their pets, KVIA in Las Cruces, N.M. reported.
The program will be based in New York but will be open for any family in the United States to apply. In just the opening two weeks of the program, more than 45,000 pets have been signed up, according to ABC News.
The program will look to verify applicants' details and income, after which those whose applications are accepted will be able to receive pet food each month from Pet Food Direct for a 6-month period.
