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Press Release

Store Owner Sentenced For Defrauding Government Food Assistance Program

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – Farhan Ali Abu Siam, 42, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for defrauding the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program. The defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic in SNAP benefits and commit wire fraud; wire fraud; and aiding and abetting trafficking in SNAP benefits.

 

The defendant owned and operated S&S Farmer’s Market, a retail grocery store, now defunct, that was located at 2722 Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia.  At his guilty plea hearing, the defendant admitted that he knowingly trafficked in SNAP benefits, and directed his employees to traffic in SNAP benefits, by purchasing those benefits from customers of S&S, which is illegal.  The defendant admitted that within a 15-month period, he was responsible for a program loss of $1,390,482.

 

In addition to the prison term, Senior U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova ordered restitution of $1,390,482 to USDA, three years of supervised release to follow imprisonment, and directed that the defendant not own or operate any company that accepts SNAP benefits while on supervised release.

 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley.

Updated February 4, 2016