10 arrested in alleged food stamp fraud (possible terrorist activity)

SOUTH BEND -- Ten people arrested Friday on federal charges of food stamp fraud remain in custody after their initial court appearances.

The 10 arrested were among 12 people named in four indictments returned Thursday by a federal grand jury here.

The indictments allege a pattern of illegal trafficking and redemption of food stamps by four stores, two in South Bend and two in Michigan City.

The stores involved are Van Buren Market, 1018 Portage Ave, and Olive Street Foods, 2321 Lincoln Way W., both in South Bend; and Boulevard Foods, 532 W. Michigan Blvd., and 9th & Willard Food Mart, 1145 W. Ninth St., both in Michigan City.

The estimated loss to the government in the four indictments exceeds $1 million. In the indictments, the government charges that store operators or employees illegally used cash to buy food stamps at a discounted rate. The store operator would then redeem the food stamps for the full value.

Prosecutors cited an example from the Boulevard Foods' indictment. It alleges redemption of food stamps over a two-year period in excess of $540,000 when the actual sale of food items was only 10 percent of that amount.

Officials said the food stamp investigation had been under way for a long time and it was coincidental that charges were brought now.

Indicted in connection with the Olive Street Foods are Mohammed Hakmeh, 28, of Mishawaka; Gary Smallwood, 37, of South Bend; and Abdelmajid Sobuh, 27.

Hakmeh has operated Olive Street Foods since 1997 and was assisted by the others. Hakmeh is charged with one count of illegal redemption of food stamps and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government between January 1998 and April 2001.

Smallwood and Sobuh are each charged with four counts of illegal purchase of food stamps and one count of conspiracy. They face up to 25 years in prison and fines up to $1.25 million.

Indicted in connection with Van Buren Market are Reed Alsheikh, 30, of Columbia City, Ind.; Jamal Sheikh, 24, of Justice, Ill.; and Yousef Alsheikh, 50, of Piscataway, N.J., who has operated the store from 1995 to 1999.

Reed Alshiekh and Sheikh are each charged with one count of illegal redemption and one count of conspiracy. They could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $50,000. Reed Alshiekh is due back in court Wednesday for a detention hearing. Sheikh, who was arrested in Illinois , will appear in court here next week.

Authorities are seeking Yousef Alsheikh, who faces two counts of illegal redemption and two counts of conspiracy alleging he defrauded the government from 1997 to 1999. He could receive up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $1 million.

Three Michigan City men are charged in connection with the 9th & Willard Food Mart. Ahmad Kamleh, 24, who operated the store from August 1996 to June 1999, is charged with illegal redemption and purchase. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.

Kamleh was convicted in South Bend in 1997 of food stamp fraud charges and placed on probation for a year. He is due back in court next Friday for a detention hearing.

Nayef Musleh, 55, faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $1.5 million on one conspiracy charge and five counts of illegal purchase. His court appearance will resume Tuesday when an Arabic translator is present.

Police are seeking Amjad Musleh, 26, who has run the 9th & Willard store since 1999 and is believed to be in another country headed to the United States.

Charged in connection with Boulevard Foods is Wajdi Kamleh, 28, of Michigan City, who operated the store from 1994 to 1997; Mohammed Abu-Eid, 29, of Michigan City, who ran it from 1997 to 1999; and Mansour Musleh, 40, of Schererville, Ind., who has operated it since 1999.

Kamleh faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine on two counts of conspiracy and one count each of illegal redemption and illegal purchase of food stamps.

Musleh faces up to 25 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines on five charges and Abu-Eid faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $500,000 on two charges. All three are due back in court Wednesday for detention hearings.

Although many of the defendants have Muslim or Middle Eastern names and origin, federal officials said they have no information at this time connecting any of the defendants to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

I know these guys are muslim and the authorities have no connection at this time. This is a great way to launder money. If this is true and we put 2 and 2 together, if these guys are doing this in some po-dunk town like south bend, just think of all the places in our country they could be doing this.

With all the things happening all around since the tradegy on sept. 11th, I don't think anythig is a coincedence. Unfortunatley, the authorities are saying "these are isolated cases" too often, we need to be a little more thorough in our investigations.

Who knows if these guys are connected, but it demands another look. Money laudering could be going on right under our noses, and we ae oblivious.

So OBL has been raising money from food stamp fraud.

The way we will beat these slimey Arabs who hate Americans and want to kill all of us is the simple way of following the money!

This has to be really bad news for Je$$e and others who push the hell out food stamps and other welfare cash/script schemes!

I can just imagine our tax $'s at work in the Goron blue voting centers like DC, Miami, St Louis, Chicago, LA and ?!

Thanks for this article!

My oldest son said last week that if GW gave the IRS and edict to track down and find dirty Arab money laundering schemes or he would disband them in 3 months if there weren't some big results like this one. That in one month they would destroy all dirty Arab money laundering in the States and much of the world!

I have to tell you in Indiana they have just issued debit cards for people on welfare instead of food stamps. The reason given is that when people pay with food stamps in line at the supermarket they feel embaressed, so they are now being given debit cards, and are given classes on how to use them.

I have a big problem, these people should be embaressed they are on food stamps. The good thing is that this will cut back on fraud and conterfitting, which has been a huge problem throughout the U.S.

In our local supermarket, they have great produce that is purchased in N. California 3 to 4 times a week and then put out for sale. Many chefs come into the market to buy the produce for the dinners they plan to fix that evening in their excellent restaurants

This store also carries an Organic Produce Section. The food looks terrible and costs 2-5 times what the other produce does!

50% of the organic crap is purchased with script from the state of California. Most of these Organic buyers are the original old hippies who have smoked more dope and put more illegal drugs in their systems than legal items! I have to be quite, so that I don't get brought up on hate crimes! These old hippies would never use our tax $'s to buy the bad produce that the chefs and the rest of us buy and enjoy!

The latest scam is the WIC script program for mothers on welfare or trying to get on welfare. You can see them coming in their Wic Script buy candy or whatever, seldom food and hardly ever for baby food. They buy a $5 item, use the Wic Script $20's or $10's get the change. Take the change to their boy friend parked in the disabled parking spot, and drive to the next store! By the time the cops get out, they are out of town and going to the next town!

Food stamp fraud is rampant. I was in a small grocery store the other day. The Asian lady in front of me tried to pay with food stamps. The clerk told her that they did not take them. So she reached into a very expensive purse and pulled out her wallet. She opened it to reveal a bunch of credit cards. She paid with one of the cards.

This woman was obviously well off. She was dressed in expensive clothes, salon coiffed hairdo, and designer handbag and eye glasses. Also immaculatey applied makeup. This woman was not poor. She did not even appear to be middleclass. She gave every appearance of being in an upper-income bracket.

Food stamp fraud is wide spread.

The welfare recipient gives 40 bucks worth of food stamps in exchange for, say, 15 dollars in cash. The welfare recipient now has money for cheap drugs or alcohol, and the other guy has just saved 25 bucks at the grocery store. Unfortunately, this sort of thing has been happening on the streets for years. I would like to think that the new "debit card" has helped with the problem, but who knows?

You know, GW said that he had ALL his cabinet working on this. Anne Venneman apparently has been busy (Food Stamps are Department of Agriculture). Also probably the IRS was looking as well. Note it is a federal grand jury.

I didn't even think about this, alhough everyone has been commenting on how many convenience marts are run by Middle Easterners. Hmmm.

Feds have been in Bloomington going over student records at Indiana University trying to find those who are not supposed to be there.

Next up: OSHA inspections at motels!!

I don't necessarily mean this event is connected to OBL but you can bet your bottom dollar that we will recognize quite a few names if a list is ever compiled of those who had dealings with him or his group even if unaware of 9/11 but fully aware of his terrorist doings.

There was a thread here once that detailed how these terrorists wash their money and it went all the way back to the BCCI scandal. I can't find it now.

top posted, "If they turned OBL upside down and shook real hard we might be amazed what would fall out of his pockets and that's probably the reason they won't do it, this guy is wanted dead or dead by more than GW now."

Yeah he may have just become a really big embarrassment of his main sponsors, the super rich Saudis, who hate us.

Do you know what the Saudis have done to terrorists dumb enough to be caught or really fingered by the US?

A simple "Off with their heads!"

To all of the sicko Saudis monitoring this site, "Maybe OBL has outlived his usefulness to you and the other super rich Arabs who hate America! Maybe you super rich Arabs should correct this matter before it gets really embarrassing for you! Your image of the nice guys in the robes is about to be destroyed if OBL continues to waste oxygen!

This is a stretch!

STRETCH HE$$ THIS IS A LEAP WITH A COUPLE OF BOUNCES AND ROLL OVER THE EDGE GEEZE THE NEWS IS SCREWY DURING WARTIME

I agree there fraud in the food stamp and welfare system but to connect it to welfare? and food stamp?WHO WRITES THIS CRAP ALFRED E NEWMAN?

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