Hold onto your wallets, folks—federal authorities have just cracked open a jaw-dropping $66 million fraud scheme targeting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps.
This staggering case, touted as one of the largest food stamp frauds in U.S. history, involves six individuals charged with conspiracy, theft of government funds, and misappropriation of USDA benefits, with a USDA employee allegedly at the heart of the betrayal.
Let’s start at the beginning: SNAP, funded by hard-earned taxpayer dollars, helps low-income families buy food using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, much like debit cards, at approved stores.
When a card is swiped, the system verifies the purchase, deducts the cost from the recipient’s account, and funnels federal funds to the store. It’s a lifeline for the vulnerable—until someone games the system.
Enter Michael Kehoe, a 46-year-old from Long Island, New York, who authorities say kicked off this scheme in 2019 by orchestrating a network of about 160 unauthorized EBT terminals across the New York area.
These terminals, used by stores not approved for SNAP, processed over $30 million in illicit transactions. Turns out, exploiting taxpayer generosity can rack up quite a tab.
Kehoe didn’t work alone—he teamed up with Mohamad Nawafleh, 34, Omar Alrawashdeh, 37, Gamal Obaid, 39, and Emad Alrawashdeh, 37, all from the Bronx, to submit roughly 200 fraudulent USDA applications.
These applications, often backed by doctored paperwork, snagged license numbers for EBT terminals at ineligible spots like smoke shops. If only they’d put that creativity into something lawful.
Now, here’s where it gets uglier: Arlasa Davis, a 56-year-old USDA employee from Gardiner, New York, is accused of being the inside player. Working in a division meant to catch SNAP fraud, she instead allegedly sold hundreds of confidential license numbers, enabling over $36 million in bogus transactions. Betraying public trust for a quick buck—classy move.
Davis reportedly used her cellphone to snap photos of handwritten lists of license numbers meant for legitimate stores, passing them to an intermediary.
That middleman then sold the data to her co-conspirators, who used it to equip unauthorized stores with EBT terminals. It’s like handing burglars the keys to the safe and expecting no consequences.
In return, Davis allegedly pocketed hefty bribes, cleverly disguised in messages as “birthday gifts” and “flowers.” Subtlety isn’t their strong suit, but greed certainly is.
“This fraud was made possible when USDA employee Arlasa Davis betrayed the public trust by selling confidential government information to the very criminals she was supposed to catch,” said U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone. Well, if the irony wasn’t so infuriating, it’d almost be poetic—someone tasked with protecting a safety net turned it into a personal piggy bank.
The six defendants—Kehoe, Nawafleh, Omar Alrawashdeh, Obaid, Emad Alrawashdeh, and Davis—face serious charges, including conspiracy to steal government funds with a potential five-year sentence, theft of government funds up to 10 years, and misappropriation of USDA benefits carrying a maximum of 20 years.
Davis also faces additional counts of bribery and honest services fraud, with penalties up to 15 and 20 years, respectively. Nawafleh even tacked on a failure-to-appear charge, potentially adding another decade behind bars.
Maximum sentences are set by Congress, but the actual punishment will be up to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who’s presiding over this mess. While the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the accusations paint a grim picture of exploiting a program meant for struggling families.
“This alleged scheme benefited the defendants while undermining critical safeguards designed to ensure that SNAP assistance reaches only eligible families in need,” said FBI Assistant Director Christopher G. Raia. And there’s the rub—every dollar diverted is a meal snatched from someone who genuinely needs it, all while taxpayers foot the bill.
The investigation, supported by the USDA and FBI, is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgia V. Kostopoulos and Joe Zabel from the General Crimes Unit.
It’s reassuring to see law enforcement cracking down, but it begs the question: How many other safety nets are being turned into personal slush funds? Oversight isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity.