Federal agents have busted an alleged fraud in which SNAP benefits were traded for cash, clothes, appliances at a local store in Cleveland. They recovered $100,000 in the process.
“Exchanging the SNAP benefits for cash is the most common form of trafficking for the SNAP program,” Brad Porcella, U.S. Secret Service special agent, told News 5 Cleveland (1).
The bust was the culmination of an 11-month-long investigation involving the Secret Service’s Money Laundering Task Force, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Ohio Investigative Unit, which enforces Ohio’s alcohol, tobacco and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud laws.
"There were around 17,000 illegal transactions that took place,” Porcella said.
Rup Chettri, owner of Sagarmatha Home Decor LLC on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, has been indicted on multiple felony counts, including illegal use of SNAP benefits, money laundering, telecommunications fraud and grand theft.
In the context of the U.S. government’s $93-million annual spend on SNAP, recovering $100,000 may not sound like much. But every scam siphons resources away from the nearly 42 million Americans who rely on the program.
The news exposes vulnerabilities in the nation’s food assistance program as the Trump administration fights to delay and reduce SNAP benefits during the government shutdown.
SNAP chaos amid the shutdown
The USDA is under fire for how it’s been handling SNAP payments amid the shutdown. A court ordered the USDA to tap into SNAP’s contingency fund to keep the food aid flowing rather than cutting it off.
The USDA said it would draw on its $4.65-billion SNAP contingency fund to keep payments flowing in November, but with a 50% cut. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities challenged the USDA’s calculations, noting that there would be an average 61% cut in benefits.
The USDA responded that after “further analysis,” it would only have to reduce November SNAP payments by 35% instead of a full 50%, according to CNN (2).
A federal court judge has since ordered the USDA to restore full SNAP benefits — an average $187 per person per month — but the damage from the confusion is already being felt.
As NPR reports, many states are struggling to reprogram their systems fast enough to distribute payments (3).
Pennsylvania fired off a letter to the USDA, blasting the agency for picking the “most complex and labor-intensive approach possible” to roll out partial SNAP benefits.
As CNN reports, Pennsylvania’s state government would need 10,000 hours and up to 12 business days to overhaul the state’s system to meet the USDA’s demands and another 10 days to get payments into recipients’ hands.
Why it matters and what to do
For Americans on tight budgets, the double hit of fraud on one end and delayed benefits on the other shows just how fragile the nation’s food safety net is.
The Cleveland bust won’t put extra cash in people’s SNAP accounts or get payments out any faster, but it’s a reminder that the system needs tighter oversight.
Smarter fraud detection and stricter checks on vendors could stop scammers from gaming the program again.
The USDA says retailers that accept SNAP EBT payments can help prevent fraud by:
- Inspecting point-of-sale machines daily to make sure they haven’t been tampered with
- Monitoring checkout areas on video camera, keeping an eye on PIN pads and suspicious customer behavior
Recipients can protect themselves and others by avoiding simple PINs for their SNAP EBT cards and changing them regularly. The USDA also advises recipients to be wary of phishing scams. Officials will never call or text to ask for your SNAP PIN.
Everyone can reduce SNAP fraud by reporting suspicious activity to their local SNAP office, or the USDA Office of the Inspector General Hotline at usda.gov/oig/hotline or 1-800-424-9121.
The court’s order to restore full November benefits is a win, but it’s a short-term fix. Without real reforms to enforcement and distribution, American families in need could see the same types of struggles pop up again.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
News 5 Cleveland (1); CNN (2); NPR (3)
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