The owner of a Minneapolis-based grocery story was charged last week in connection to a $1.1 million scheme to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
SNAP, commonly called food stamps, is a federally-funded food assistance program for low-income individuals. Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows recipients to pay for food using their SNAP benefits.
The charges say representatives from Walmart’s Global Investigation Team contacted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) in May 2021 regarding a possible EBT trafficking scheme.
Walmart discovered that a small group of people were making multiple purchases of products like energy drinks and baby formula using EBT cards that did not belong to them, according to the charges.
BCA agents then began investigating Abdidwahid Shalle Mohamed, the owner of Minnesota Food Grocery in Minneapolis.
According to the charges:
Law enforcement surveilled Mohamed and observed him making purchases at Sam’s Club, which is owned by Walmart, using other people’s EBT cards.
He would then load the purchased items into one of his vehicles and deliver them directly to Minnesota Food Grocery. Mohamed frequently purchased products such as energy drinks and baby formula at Sam’s Club and Costco to stock the shelves of Minnesota Food Grocery for resale.
The BCA, federal law enforcement, and local law enforcement executed warrants at Minnesota Food Grocery on Aug. 10, 2021. In the days and months that followed, BCA and FBI agents interviewed or attempted to interview more than two dozen people whose EBT cards were used by Mohamed.
During the interviews, many of the subjects claimed that their cards were temporarily lost, said they never personally shopped at the stores frequented by Mohamed, and reported never visiting Minnesota Food Grocery.
Federal law enforcement agents were able to confirm that numerous people were outside the U.S. when their EBT cards were used by Mohamed.
One woman admitted that she had not paid for groceries at Minnesota Food Grocery for more than a year after agreeing to let Mohamed use her EBT card.
Mohamed was arrested Aug. 10, 2021, at a Sam’s Club in Bloomington with an EBT card belonging to another person. The pin number for the card was written on a Minnesota Food Grocery receipt.
The cardholder denied ever shopping at Minnesota Food Grocery. However, Mohamed said in a jail call that he was arrested in possession of an EBT card belonging to a woman who visited his store the prior evening.
Between March 8, 2021, and Aug. 10, 2021, Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments.
Mohamed was charged May 6 via summons, meaning there is no booking photo. His first court appearance is scheduled for May 27. He’s facing one felony count of finance transaction card fraud. It’s unclear why so much time passed between his arrest and charges.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
