10 People Arrested for Theft of Nearly $1 Million From SNAP

A 25-count indictment was announced today against two Suffolk County convenience store owner/operators, one store employee and seven Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) recipients who illegally traded cash for hundreds of thousands of dollars in SNAP benefits.

Manjeet Chadha, 48, of North Bellmore and Sajjad Rashid, 43, of Rocky Point, who co-own and operate Mastic Supermarket Corp. and Haricharan Malhotra, 41, of Mastic, who works at the store, are charged with felony grand larceny, misuse of food stamps and falsifying business records. The seven SNAP recipients also face grand larceny and misuse charges.

If convicted, Rashid and Malhotra each face up to 15 years in prison while Chadha faces up to seven years behind bars. Three of the seven SNAP recipients also face up to seven years, while the remaining four, who are charged with lesser counts of felony grand larceny and misuse, each face up to four years in prison.

“The [SNAP] Program was created to provide food and nutrition to those who truly need this assistance,” said USDA OIG Special Agent-in-Charge William G. Squires, Jr. “Those who are involved in fraud and abuse of SNAP and other USDA programs will be aggressively pursued by our office.”

The SNAP recipients indicted include Romie Harris, 45, of Mastic; Kristine Hensley Austin, 25, of Mastic Beach; Dawn Murphy, 33, of Mastic Beach; Brittany Sardella, 26, of Hampton Bays; David Cantwell, 46, of Southold; Carolyn Gray, 25, of Mastic; and Theresa Hubbard, 51, of Mastic Beach.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed a civil suit on Monday seeking restitution in the amount of $973,000 against Rashid, Chadha, Malhotra and the corporation Mastic Supermarket Corp.

“It’s unconscionable that anyone would steal from a program designed to provide nutritional assistance to New Yorkers in need, especially those harmed by Hurricane Sandy,” said Schneiderman. “There has to be one set of rules for everyone, and that is why my office will hold these individuals accountable and attempt to recover the nearly $1 million stolen from this crucial program.”

After Hurricane Sandy, the USDA allocated an additional 50% in benefits to all SNAP recipients in affected areas, regardless of need. The seven recipients charged received this benefit and illegally exchanged it for cash at Mastic Supermarket Corp. shortly after the storm.

SNAP recipients are issued a benefit card for purchasing specified food items, but, according to the indictment, Rashid, Chadha and Malhotra processed phantom SNAP transactions for the seven cardholders. The cardholders received cash equaling half of the amount of these fake purchases while Rashid, Chadha and Malhotra pocketed the other half.

“This type of crime is particularly egregious because it takes advantage of a government program aimed at providing nutrition for our most needy recipients,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber. “We will continue to work in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that those who are fraudulently using SNAP will be brought to justice.”

Between March and December 2012, Mastic Supermarket Corp. rang up over $564,000 in SNAP benefits, while comparable stores rang up $14,000 to $24,000 worth of redemptions in the same period.

For more information, or if you see or know of waste, fraud or abuse in a social services program in New York State, contact the Office of the Attorney General’s helpline at (800) 771-7755.