Rollins

USDA Employee And Others Arrested After Alleged Food Stamp Fraud

Dale Sandlin USDA

Rollins

An employee of the US Department of Agriculture was arrested last week along with five others after allegedly misappropriating $66 million in food stamp funds. The US Attorney’s office, in conjunction with the FBI and the USDA Office of Inspector General charged the six individuals in one of the “largest food stamp frauds in US History.”  According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, the alleged scheme began in 2019, including a network of approximately 160 unauthorized EBT terminals to stores in the New York area processing $30 million in EBT transactions with a USDA employee selling hundreds of EBT license numbers enabling $36 million in fraudulent SNAP redemptions. Perry Carbone, Attorney for the United States said, “Michael Kehoe and his co-conspirators misappropriated tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds meant to help low-income families put food on the table. This fraud was made possible when USDA employee Arlasa Davis betrayed the public trust by selling confidential government information to the very criminals she was supposed to catch.  Their actions undermined a program that vulnerable New Yorkers depend on for basic nutrition.  These charges should be a reminder that those who exploit anti-poverty programs for personal gain will be held accountable for their crimes.” In an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo last week, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins talked about the alleged theft.