Four South Florida men are facing federal charges after the U.S. Department of Justice announced what it describes as a sweeping investigation into alleged fraud involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Officials say the investigation is part of a larger nationwide crackdown on fraud involving public assistance programs.
According to prosecutors, a federal grand jury indicted four men accused of participating in a years-long, $19 million scheme to defraud SNAP between 2019 and May of this year.
The Department of Justice says the suspects, ranging in age from 23 to 63, conspired to traffic SNAP benefits through authorized stores in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Investigators say the stores were located in Lauderhill, Hollywood and Miami. All of the businesses appear to now be out of operation.
Authorities allege the scheme worked by exchanging SNAP benefits for cash. Prosecutors say stores would charge a customer’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card more than the sticker price of an item, then give the customer only a portion of that amount back in cash.
According to court documents, one transaction involved an employee exchanging $100 in cash for $199 in EBT benefits. In another example, $128 in cash was exchanged for $238 in benefits.
Federal officials say the alleged scheme resulted in nearly $20 million in fraudulent EBT transactions at a quick-stop convenience store in Miami.
The Justice Department also said two of the alleged co-conspirators are foreign nationals, and one has a pending final order of removal from the United States.
As of Thursday, three of the four defendants had been arrested. Officials said the most recent arrest occurred four days earlier when one of the defendants landed in the United States on a flight from Jordan.
The Department of Justice says the case is part of a historic collaboration across Florida aimed at targeting fraud involving SNAP, unemployment benefits and other taxpayer-funded programs.
