Findlay Market Vendor Charged with Food Stamp Fraud

DAYTON – A federal grand jury has charged the owner and manager of Busch’s Country Corner, Inc. with fraud charges related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in a 42-count indictment returned here today.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Anthony V. Mohatt, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General Investigations, Midwest Region, Yvonne DiCristoforo, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Service and Michelle Thourot, Agent-in-Charge, Ohio Investigative Unit, announced the charges.

According to the indictment, from April 2010 until May 2018, Busch’s Country Corner co-owner Michael D. Busch and his brother, Randall S. Busch, illegally exchanged cash for SNAP benefits.

The indictment alleges the defendants caused more than 195,000 individual SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) transactions to be completed by Busch’s Country Corner, totaling more than $5.4 million. It is alleged that approximately 64 percent, or $3.4 million, of those SNAP transactions were fraudulent. Busch’s Country Corner operates as a vendor in the downtown Cincinnati Findlay Market complex.

The defendants allegedly used electronic point of sale devices in order to process EBT transactions for cash. For example, one transaction included a beginning EBT balance of $1,300 and an ending balance of $11.

The indictment includes one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, 20 counts of SNAP fraud and 20 counts of wire fraud.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the USDA OIG, U.S. Secret Service and Ohio Investigative Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Dwight Keller, who is prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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