Vida Ofori Causey, SNAP Benefits Fraud, Massachusetts 2015

A Worcester woman was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison for operating a $3.6 million SNAP benefits fraud scheme out of her convenience store.

Vida Ofori Causey, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to one year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $3,512,906 to the government. The court ordered restitution to be determined after forfeiture is completed.

Causey pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit SNAP benefits fraud, one count of SNAP fraud, and one count of money laundering in December 2015.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides eligible households with government subsidies for certain foodstuffs, and allows holders to exchange their SNAP benefits for food at authorized retail food stores.

Causey was the owner and operator of J&W Aseda Plaza, a convenience store on Main Street in Worcester. From April 2010 to October 2014, Causey conspired with others to commit SNAP fraud by purchasing SNAP benefits from recipients rather than exchanging them for food.

During the course of the four-year conspiracy, Causey defrauded the USDA of approximately $3,638,900 in SNAP funds.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Dineen Jerrett of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.

The crime was announced by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; William G. Squires, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Northeast Region; and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/worcester-woman-sentenced-36-million-food-stamp-fraud