Rohit Reddy Sentenced in SNAP Fraud Scheme

Rohit Reddy, 43, the former owner of Cynthia’s Polynesian Market in Burien, Washington, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for trafficking food stamp benefits. The conviction, handed down in U.S. District Court in Seattle, marks the end of a federal probe into a years-long scheme that exploited the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for cash.

Reddy pleaded guilty on July 1, 2016, to SNAP fraud, admitting he routinely allowed recipients to exchange their benefits for cash while skimming roughly 50 percent from each fraudulent transaction. Court records show the scam ran from March 2014 to June 2015, during which time the store processed over 7,600 SNAP transactions. More than 2,000 of those were for amounts exceeding $120 — a red flag for investigators given the store’s modest size and inventory.

Undercover agents caught the operation in motion. On 11 separate visits, they successfully traded SNAP benefits for cash, always handing over the agreed 50 percent cut to Reddy’s store. Surveillance footage further sealed the case: customers would swipe cards with balances as high as $600, then walk out with little or no groceries. Investigators noted a pattern — cards were checked for balance, then drained to near zero in consecutive transactions, a hallmark of trafficking.

At sentencing, prosecutors pushed for a loss amount exceeding $250,000, citing the volume and structure of the transactions. The defense argued the figure could be under $10,000. U.S. District Judge James L. Robart, acknowledging Reddy’s limited ability to repay, set the restitution at just over $95,000. That number will be owed to the federal government as compensation for the fraud.

Judge Robart didn’t mince words during the hearing. Addressing Reddy, a native of Fiji, he urged him to return to his community with a clear message: “Please go back and preach the message to your community that the law applies to everyone.” The statement underscored the court’s view that the crime wasn’t just about money — it was about trust in a system meant to feed the hungry.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG) and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Cohen and Thomas Woods prosecuted the case. Reddy’s fall from neighborhood grocer to federal convict serves as a stark reminder: when public benefits become private profit, the feds come calling.