A South Florida man was arrested in connection with an alleged $800,000 scheme involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Details of the Alleged Scheme
According to CBS News Miami, the man was arrested in connection with an $800,000 SNAP benefits scheme. SNAP is a federal program that helps low-income individuals and families purchase food.
SNAP fraud cases of this scale are not isolated in South Florida. In a separate case earlier this year, a Davie man, Abbas Rehman, 33, was arrested on April 30 and accused of orchestrating a $2.8 million scheme, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Investigators in that case alleged Rehman submitted fraudulent merchant applications and manipulated bank-deposit information using stolen identities tied to four USDA-authorized retailer businesses, across five incidents between 2021 and 2023.
Pattern of Identity Theft Across Florida Cases
The Sun Sentinel reported that the warrant in the Rehman case alleged $1.28 million in fraudulent SNAP funds was redirected into bank accounts controlled by two other individuals, Fidelina Othman and Ibrahim Shaqour. Rehman was charged with five counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information, one count of organized fraud of $50,000 or more, and one count of first-degree grand theft. As of mid-May, he had not entered a plea and was released pretrial under GPS monitoring, per the same report.
Other South Florida SNAP fraud cases have followed similar patterns of exploiting stolen personal information. A Broward County woman, Tamica Brown, was accused of stealing more than $120,000 in SNAP benefits from over 200 victims using stolen EBT card numbers over an eight-month span, according to CBS News Miami. Investigators allege she worked with at least two men who remained at large and used the stolen benefits to buy large quantities of Gatorade and energy drinks, which were then resold to corner stores for cash.
Statewide Enforcement and Dollar Figures
Florida officials have ramped up efforts to catch SNAP fraud in recent months. In a separate enforcement sweep, CBS 12 News reported that investigators identified $487,728 in fraud tied to arrests, plus another $318,895 uncovered through administrative cases. Officials also reviewed 48 additional cases that resulted in administrative action, including SNAP disqualifications lasting 12 months, 24 months, or permanently.
Other recent Florida cases illustrate how far-reaching these schemes can get. A Tavares man, Jose Valles Villamizar, 29, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $73,000 in government food assistance benefits and aggravated identity theft, according to News4JAX. In a larger federal case, four South Florida men were charged in connection with an alleged $19 million scheme to defraud SNAP between 2019 and this year, according to NBC 6 South Florida, which reported the scheme allegedly exchanged SNAP benefits for cash through inflated EBT transactions at authorized stores in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Three of the four defendants had been arrested as of that report.
Program Changes and Resources for Victims
Florida's own system for replacing stolen benefits has also shifted. The state's Stolen SNAP Benefits Program ended on December 20, 2024, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families, which still advises recipients whose benefits are stolen to file a police report with local law enforcement and request a replacement EBT card by calling EBT Customer Service or logging into a MyACCESS account.
Federal researchers have also studied the scope of identity theft within SNAP more broadly. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service examined potential identity theft in Florida and Missouri over a 12-month period from June 2016 through May 2017, though researchers cautioned that such estimates reflect potential rather than confirmed identity theft, since true identity theft can only be determined after a detailed fraud investigation. Separately, the USDA awarded Florida $748,600 for a project to monitor IP addresses and help detect potentially fraudulent SNAP applications, including those filed by people who may not actually reside in the state.
The allegations against the man in this case remain unproven.
