The very expensive ($70.9 billion in 2016) federal food stamp program (officially: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) is an open invitation to fraud. The latest indicator comes from Jacksonville, Florida. News4Jax.com (Channel 4 in Jacksonville) reports:
Sheriff Mike Williams announced Tuesday the results of a multi-agency, undercover investigation into the exchange of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for cash and, in at least one case, cocaine.
From 2012 to 2017, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detectives, working with federal and state agencies, documented more than 22,000 fraudulent transactions involving $3.7 million in taxpayer money.
“These people are selling or stealing money from hardworking taxpayers right here in our community, and they are abusing a program that is meant to help people,” Williams said.
Williams said that during Operation Half-Back, undercover officers personally observed 115 individuals in 390 fraudulent transactions from February to July 2017.
Investigators said those with SNAP/EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards would give their PIN number to the buyer, and that money would then be deposited into their accounts.
Williams said, in most cases, the food-stamp recipient received 50 cents per $1 of SNAP benefit used. Each transaction was recorded.
Link: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/03/massive_food_stamp_fraud_uncovered.html
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