Indian-American store owner indicted for food stamps fraud

NEW YORK: A 39-year-old Indian-American convenience store owner has been indicted by a federal jury on charges of committing fraud related to the US government's food stamps programme and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Bharpur Singh of California was indicted for defrauding the US Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, US Attorney Benjamin Wagner said.

According to the indictment, Singh owns and operates a convenience store that was authorised to accept SNAP benefits from customers to pay for eligible food items through the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card programme.

Retailers are not permitted to trade cash for SNAP benefits or accept SNAP benefits as payment for ineligible items.

From October 2008 until May 2014, Singh traded the benefits for cash rather than for eligible food products as required under the programme.

Singh would swipe a SNAP benefit recipient's EBT card for a certain amount, give the benefit recipient cash for approximately half the amount of the transaction and keep approximately one-half for himself.

On numerous occasions, Singh accepted SNAP benefits as payment for ineligible items, including beer, cigarettes, toilet paper, toys and diapers.

Singh faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each wire fraud count, and five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count of unauthorised use of USDA benefits.