USDA announces charges against eight in SNAP fraud crackdown

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

Federal officials announced charges Tuesday against eight people accused of defrauding taxpayers of more than $1.3 million through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Among those arrested was a Minneapolis man alleged to have stolen more than $1.1 million in benefits.

The arrests were highlighted as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Tuesday Takedown,” which targeted alleged SNAP fraud schemes ranging from more than $1,000 to more than $1.1 million.

“Steal from SNAP. Get Busted,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote on social media Tuesday morning. “These 8 fraudsters thought they could steal food assistance money and get away with it.”

According to the USDA, the largest case involved Abdidwahid Mohamed of Minneapolis, who is accused of defrauding more than $1.1 million from SNAP. Also known as food stamps, SNAP provides food assistance to approximately 40 million low-income Americans and is administered by states with federal funding and oversight from USDA.

The announcement comes less than a week after federal authorities celebrated the first arrest from the FBI’s newly-launched “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list, as previously reported by The Center Square.

Minnesota has come under scrutiny from the Trump administration’s “war on fraud” efforts. Estimates place fraud losses in the state at between $9 billion and $20 billion, and some state officials are even facing criminal investigations tied to allegations they failed to stop widespread taxpayer-funded fraud.

U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has led some of the investigations into fraud in Minnesota. He said on Monday that accountability is coming.

“States can no longer look the other way,” Comer said, applauding federal efforts to pass legislation addressing fraud. “Criminals are being held accountable.”

Rollins identified the eight individuals charged in Tuesday’s announcement as:

• Timesha Fleming of Summerville, South Carolina – $76,502.

• Jenny Quinones of Amsterdam, New York – more than $12,000.

• Tiffany Butler of Sprakers, New York – $50,525.

• Abdidwahid Mohamed of Minneapolis, Minnesota – more than $1.1 million.

• J’Anne Mizro of Auburn, New York – more than $1,000.

• Jennifer Geddings of Sumter, South Carolina – $21,716.

• Lina Orovio-Hernandez of Boston, Massachusetts – $43,348.

• Aisha Carr of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – $2,808.

USDA did not immediately release additional details about the individual cases, though Rollins said the arrests are just the beginning.

“[USDA Food and Nutrition] is coming for everyone attempting to defraud the American taxpayer,” she said.