Waterbury Grocery Store Worker Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Food Stamp Fraud

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that TALLAT MAHMOOD, 64, of Waterbury, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for defrauding the federal food stamp program.

The federal Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (“SNAP”) is administered by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and utilizes federal tax dollars to subsidize low-income households to provide them with the opportunity to achieve a more nutritious diet by increasing their food-purchasing power. SNAP recipients purchase eligible food items at retail food stores through the use of an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, and SNAP benefits may be accepted by authorized retailers only in exchange for eligible items. Items such as alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, paper goods and soaps are not eligible for purchase with Food Stamp benefits, and it is a violation of the rules and regulations governing the food stamp program to allow benefits to be used to purchase ineligible items. SNAP benefits may not lawfully be exchanged for cash under any circumstances. The program is designed so that the total amount of each purchase is electronically transferred to the retailer’s designated bank account.

According to court documents, MAHMOOD worked at WB Trade Fair Grocery, located at 43 Willow Street in Waterbury. From November 2014 until June 2016, MAHMOOD and others illegally allowed customers to redeem their food stamp benefits for cash and other ineligible items.

Given the stock of eligible food items at the store, the number of registers and the customer amenities, it is estimated that WB Trade Fair Grocery could lawfully redeem at most between $120,000 to $240,000 per year in food stamp benefits. However, during this approximately 18-month period, food stamp redemptions at the store totaled approximately $3.2 million.

Judge Bryant ordered MAHMOOD to pay approximately $1.5 million in restitution.

MAHMOOD was arrested on August 18, 2016. On March 30, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of food stamp benefits and one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud.

On April 7, 2017, Raul Carlos Monarca-Gonzalez, also an employee at WB Trade Fair Grocery, was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment and restitution of approximately $1.5 million for his role in this scheme.

A third employee of the store who was involved in this scheme, Tahir Shahzad, also has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anastasia King and Neeraj Patel.