Tarrytown Food Mart, at Clark Road & 21st Avenue in Gary
Tarrytown Food Mart owner sentenced to 41 months for food stamp fraud
Contributed By:The 411 News
Mohammad Zaidan ordered to pay over $5 million restitution
Mohammad Zaidan, 53, of Palos Heights, Illinois, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon upon his guilty plea to wire fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
Zaidan was sentenced to 41 months in prison, 1 year of supervised release and ordered to pay $5,124,212.73 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to documents in the case, between December 2015, and November 2020, Zaidan devised a fraudulent scheme to acquire U.S. Department of Agriculture SNAP Benefits, commonly referred to as “food stamps” to which he was not entitled.
He engaged in the illegal trade of food stamp benefits for discounted amounts of cash at a store he owned in Gary, namely Tarrytown Food Mart. The scheme involved “cash-back” to customers in exchange for a certain ratio of the total SNAP transaction.
SNAP transactions from Tarrytown were 27 times greater than the average small grocery store in Lake County during the period Zaidan owned the store until August 2020.
Zaidan took over ownership in March 2016. Charges were filed against Zaidan in January 2021, but sealed until May 2021.
Tarrytown's receipts were $5,313,361.98; the average small grocery store's SNAP receipts for the period was $189,149.25.
SNAP monthly receipts for Tarrytown averaged $98,395.59 while the typical small grocer in Lake County averaged $3,502.76.
An example of the food stamp fraud, according to the charging affidavit, states that on or about September 16, 2020, an undercover agent entered Tarrytown and gathered groceries.
The agent approached Zaidan and asked, “Let me get a hundred back?” Groceries purchased by the agent included 1 bottle of juice, 1 box
of macaroni and cheese, 2 noodle packets, 2 boxes of candy, and 1 bag of chips, which
should have cost approximately, $8.00 - $11.00.
Zaidan processed the EBT card for $208.52, retrieved cash from the register and after counting multiple times,handed $100.00 to the agent.
The agent was given a receipt matching the amount posted to the SNAP users account.
This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service and United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Chang and Molly Kelley.
Story Posted:09/17/2021
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