{"id":22628,"date":"2016-04-19T14:50:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T21:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=22628"},"modified":"2016-04-19T14:50:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-19T21:50:52","slug":"convenience-store-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=22628","title":{"rendered":"Convenience Store Owner Admits to Million Dollar Food Stamp Fraud \u2014 Exchanged Cash for Food Stamps"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE, R.I.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Sami Almuhtase<\/strong>b, 45, of Smithfield, R.I., owner of Oasis Market<\/strong>, a convenience store located in Providence, plead guilty in federal court to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP of more than $1.1 million dollars, federal officials announced today.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"OasisDuring his plea hearing, Almuhtaseb admitted to the court on Friday that he allowed SNAP recipients to exchange food stamp benefits for cash, in return charging them a surcharge of 100% which he pocketed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sami Almuhtaseb pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud and to money laundering, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to information presented to the court, between November 2009 and December 2015, the defendant\u2019s store redeemed $2.7 million in SNAP benefits. Over $1.2 million or 45% of the food stamp transactions were for transactions of $100 or more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over 72% of the SNAP transactions at the store were from transactions in excess of $50. Legitimate SNAP transactions at a convenience store rarely involve a transaction of $50 or more.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to court documents, at least $1.1 million dollars worth of the SNAP funds received by Almuhtaseb were the result of fraudulent transactions.<\/span><\/p>\n

These fraudulently obtained funds were deposited into two bank accounts controlled by Almuhtaseb. The defendant withdrew over $770,000 in cash or checks payable to himself from these two accounts, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

An analysis of bank records revealed that the Almuhtaseb also withdrew over $40,000 of cash from one of the accounts at ATMs located at casinos.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith<\/strong> set sentencing for July 22.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sami Almuhtaseb, 45, of Smithfield, R.I., owner of Oasis Market, a convenience store located in Providence, plead guilty in federal court to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP of more than $1.1 million dollars, federal officials announced today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[2530,1422,2531],"class_list":["post-22628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-f","tag-food-stamps","tag-snap"],"yoast_head":"\nConvenience Store Owner Admits to Million Dollar Food Stamp Fraud \u2014 Exchanged Cash for Food Stamps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sami Almuhtaseb, 45, of Smithfield, R.I., owner of Oasis Market, a convenience store located in Providence, plead guilty 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