Medina and Soberanes, Food Stamp Fraud, Washington 2014

Spokane, Washington – Two former employees of La Bodega Yakimex, a business operated in Yakima, Washington, have been sentenced for their roles in a food stamp fraud scheme. Roberto Medina and Benjamin Soberanes were caught in a scam that resulted in a total estimated loss of $315,382.77.

Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized recipients are issued a certain amount of benefits each month, which they may use to purchase eligible food items. SNAP recipients typically receive their benefits in the form of a credit on their personal electronic benefit transfer (“EBT”) card. SNAP benefits may not be used to purchase items other than food, and they cannot be redeemed for cash.

The Defendants participated in a scheme whereby SNAP recipients took their EBT cards to La Bodega Yakimex and, instead of purchasing food items, would say they wanted cash. Defendants would run the card as though food items had been purchased but, in fact, they would simply give the SNAP recipient half of the value in cash and the store would keep or “pocket” the other half.

Medina was sentenced to a 13-month term of imprisonment, while Soberanes received a six-month term. Both will be under court supervision for three years following their release from Federal prison. Manpreet Singh, the manager of La Bodega Yakimex, was sentenced to a 24-month term of imprisonment on September 23, 2014, to be followed by a one-year term of court supervision upon his release from prison.

Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said, “Food stamps are essential to supplement the income of members of our community and ensure families can afford the groceries they need. When opportunistic retailers defraud the system, as happened in this case, those families, particularly children who have no say in how food stamps are utilized, suffer, and our community suffers as a result.”

The investigation was conducted by the USDA Office of Inspector General and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Office of Fraud and Accountability. The case was prosecuted by Alison L. Gregoire and Mary K. Dimke, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.

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