Buying 'food stamps' - $.50 on the dollar!!!

[WhiskeyGirl]

How's that hope and change?  Fifty cents on the dollar?

SEATTLE -- The businesses are paying 50 cents on the dollar, in violation of state and federal laws. The rip-off of the publicly supported program is drawing food stamp recipients from all over the region to Seattle’s International District, where this underground economy is flourishing.

How it Works

A man who we’ll call “Rob” explained to us that people ride into the International District on the main bus line through the intersection of 12th and Jackson in Seattle.

“They're coming from all over,” says Rob. “They're coming from Kent, from the Eastside, from Bellevue…"

Like Rob, they are carrying a Washington Quest card, which is the modern day version of food stamps. Our hidden camera follows Rob into the Hop Thanh Supermarket at 1043 South Jackson Street.

“You just walk in there and you say 'food stamps',” says Rob. “A lot of times, the people approach you.”

Sure enough, once inside the Hop Thanh, Rob is directed to the cashier who swipes his Quest card in the card reader next to her cash register. The store charges $50 to Rob’s food stamp card.

If you’re not looking closely, you won’t see what he gets in return. On his way out, a second woman at the front door is trying to shield a handful of cash from anyone who may be watching.

"She'll slip you the cash,” says Rob, after the woman discreetly placed the money in his hand.

Rob walks away with $25 cash.

read more here - http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/Businesses-caught-on-camera-trading-cash-for-food-stamps-104387359.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

A Norwalk woman was sentenced Tuesday for her part in defrauding the federal Food Stamp Program of approximately $147,000.

Maria Zuleta, 44, was sentenced to five years of probation, according to David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Zuleta pleaded guilty to one count of food stamp fraud on May 18.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Pedro L. Serrano owned Borinquen Grocery and Deli, 71 South Main St., from approximately December 1999 to September 2004, when he sold the store to his daughter. Zuleta is Serrano's girlfriend and was also an employee of the store.

Beginning in October 2005, Borinquen Grocery and Deli's food stamp redemptions began to increase dramatically.

Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General began an investigation.

On 12 occasions in 2007 and 2008, an individual working with USDA-OIG entered the store and redeemed food stamps totaling $993.18 in exchange for $470 in cash and a combination of eligible and ineligible items, including cigarettes. Serrano was the clerk who redeemed the food stamps on 10 occasions, and Zuleta was the clerk on two occasions.

more here - http://www.thehour.com/story/492428

Are you really living in poverty if you have so much money for drugs you can give away 50% of your food money?