⏱ 2 min read
Tacoma’s economy may be thriving, but one of its small business owners has been caught in a desperate bid to pad his profits.
Manjit Bedi, a 64-year-old grocery store owner from Kent, Washington, allegedly ran a brazen food stamp scam that netted him at least $600,000 in stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
According to the indictment, Bedi accepted SNAP benefits from February 2024, but instead of giving recipients the food items they paid for, he handed them cash and kept the rest for himself.
The indictment alleges that Bedi would charge recipients’ electronic benefits cards (EBTs) for $200 worth of groceries, but give them only $100 in cash and pocket the remaining $100.
The 20-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine that could await Bedi should serve as a warning to other would-be scammers.
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: White Collar Crime
- Defendant: Western Washington
- Location: WA
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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