2 People Have Been Charged with Stealing More than $20 Million in Snap Benefits from A New York Store!
Cybersecdn– Two individuals, Dawood Kassim, 31, and Dia Alqalisi, 26, have been apprehended and charged for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme within a New York bodega. The indictment, unveiled Tuesday, revealed that the duo allegedly pilfered more than $20 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.
Kassim, the owner of the Throop Farm Market bodega located in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, and Alqalisi, reportedly engaged in thousands of deceptive SNAP transactions between April and December 2022. Their method involved facilitating exchanges of SNAP benefits for cash or non-SNAP eligible items, pocketing a portion of the benefits for themselves.
The indictment specifies one count of SNAP fraud against both Kassim and Alqalisi, with additional charges levied against Kassim, including two counts of access device fraud and four counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. The arrests were executed on Tuesday morning following the return of the grand jury indictment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York emphasized the magnitude of the fraud, underscoring its impact on thousands of vulnerable individuals reliant on SNAP benefits for sustenance. SNAP, a federal program aiding low-income families with food assistance, serves an average of 41.2 million Americans monthly, as per statistics from the 2022 fiscal year.
Prosecutors elucidated that Kassim and Alqalisi executed a sophisticated operation spanning eight months, involving the trafficking of SNAP benefits through the unauthorized bodega. Surveillance footage obtained during the investigation corroborated the illicit activities conducted within the premises.
Moreover, Kassim purportedly extended the scope of the scheme by unlawfully accessing SNAP benefits from recipients residing across multiple states, including Tennessee, Virginia, and California. Counterfeit and stolen EBT cards were utilized to siphon funds, leaving numerous victims deprived of essential resources.
Law enforcement’s intervention in December 2022 resulted in the seizure of incriminating evidence, including EBT terminals, cash, and fraudulent cards, culminating in the arrest of the accused perpetrators. The detrimental repercussions of their actions on SNAP beneficiaries, some of whom reported irreversible losses, underscore the severity of the crime.
Read More: NJ Man Fined $13,000 for Illegally Cutting Neighbor’s Trees!
Tragedy Strikes: Oklahoma Wrestler Charged with Teammate’s Death!
Hidden Realities: 87 Individuals Removed from Basement Living Conditions!
The legal proceedings against Kassim and Alqalisi serve as a stark reminder of the repercussions awaiting individuals who exploit government assistance programs for personal gain. The pursuit of justice in this case is essential to safeguarding the integrity of social welfare initiatives intended to alleviate poverty and food insecurity.
