Tag:

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Allentown, PA
Breaking News
PA Welfare Office Supervisor Stole $20K In Food Benefits, Traded EBT Cards For Crack: Lehigh DA PA Welfare Office Supervisor Stole $20K In Food Benefits, Traded EBT Cards For Crack: Lehigh DA PA Welfare Office Supervisor Stole $20K In Food Benefits, Traded EBT Cards For Crack: Lehigh DA
PA Welfare Office Supervisor Stole $20K In Food Benefits, Traded EBT Cards For Crack: Lehigh DA A Pennsylvania welfare office supervisor stole more than $20,000 in food assistance benefits from families in need, using stolen Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to buy drugs, withdraw cash, and shop at local stores, authorities announced on Monday, Oct. 19. Sheila McDonald, 46, of Pittsburgh, was working as a clerical supervisor and EBT coordinator at the Lehigh County Assistance Office in Allentown when she stole 48 cards and used them in more than 270 unauthorized transactions totaling $20,558.61, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Pennsylvania State …

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by Jillian Pikora
National Interest
800+ Flights Canceled As FAA Orders Huge Cuts During Gov't Shutdown: What To Know 800+ Flights Canceled As FAA Orders Huge Cuts During Gov't Shutdown: What To Know 800+ Flights Canceled As FAA Orders Huge Cuts During Gov't Shutdown: What To Know
800+ Flights Canceled As FAA Orders Huge Cuts During Gov't Shutdown: What To Know Airlines began canceling hundreds of flights after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered reductions as the longest federal government shutdown in US history strains air traffic control staffing. According to FlightAware, at least 834 US-based flights were canceled as of 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 7. That's a dramatic increase from the 202 flights that were scrapped on Thursday, Nov. 6. The hubs most affected included Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Phoenix. Around 1,360 US-based flights were also delayed as airports struggle with fewer air traffic controllers and …

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by Chris Spiker
National Interest
Here's How Many CT Families May Lose SNAP Benefits Under Trump's 'Big Beautiful' Law: Study Here's How Many CT Families May Lose SNAP Benefits Under Trump's 'Big Beautiful' Law: Study Here's How Many CT Families May Lose SNAP Benefits Under Trump's 'Big Beautiful' Law: Study
Here's How Many CT Families May Lose SNAP Benefits Under Trump's 'Big Beautiful' Law: Study Northeast families are expected to be among the hardest hit under sweeping federal cuts to food benefits in the Republican-backed law previously named the "One Big Beautiful Bill," according to a new study. President Donald Trump signed the spending bill into law on Friday, July 4, after the GOP narrowly passed it through both chambers of Congress. Among many massive changes, the bill is forecasted to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding by $186 billion through 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The 20% reduction is the largest cut in the history of SNAP be…

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by Chris Spiker
Conshohocken-Plymouth Meeting, PA
Breaking News
No Family Should Go Hungry—Fund The Food Banks No Family Should Go Hungry—Fund The Food Banks No Family Should Go Hungry—Fund The Food Banks
No Family Should Go Hungry—Fund The Food Banks In the heart of West Philadelphia, every week, hundreds of families line up at my district office at 4027 Market St. for a simple, yet powerful act: receiving free groceries. What started as a response to crisis has become a lifeline for so many. The faces we see every week are diverse — working parents, seniors, students, immigrants, and children — all unified by one heartbreaking reality: food insecurity. The fight against hunger is not abstract here. It is daily. It is personal. Across Pennsylvania, nearly 1 in 8 people — including 1 in 6 children — are food insecure. That means they do …

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by Amen Brown
Harrisburg, PA
Breaking News
Oh, SNAP! PA Store Owner Busted For $1.8M Food Scam: Feds Oh, SNAP! PA Store Owner Busted For $1.8M Food Scam: Feds Oh, SNAP! PA Store Owner Busted For $1.8M Food Scam: Feds
Oh, SNAP! PA Store Owner Busted For $1.8M Food Scam: Feds Looks like crime didn’t pay for one Philly shopkeeper! Jenny Espinal Tejada, 34, is trading her grocery store for a prison cell after she was caught running a nearly $2 million scam on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), prosecutors said. Tejada was sentenced to 18 months behind bars for defrauding the federal food aid program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The corner store owner got creative—and criminal—by using stolen merchant ID numbers to pretend her business was SNAP-approved, authorities said. But…

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by Jillian Pikora
Gettysburg, PA
Breaking News
Baltimore Woman's Baby Formula Scam Catches Illegal Romanian Man In Gettysburg: Authorities Baltimore Woman's Baby Formula Scam Catches Illegal Romanian Man In Gettysburg: Authorities Baltimore Woman's Baby Formula Scam Catches Illegal Romanian Man In Gettysburg: Authorities
Baltimore Woman's Baby Formula Scam Catches Illegal Romanian Man In Gettysburg: Authorities A Baltimore woman illegally using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards to collect baby formula she claimed to be sending to Ukraine, lead to the arrest of a Romanian man illegally in the US who allegedly forged documents for her, authorities say.  Eglisa Ciuciu, 25, of Baltimore, MD, and Sandrino Trifu, 32, of Croaova, Romania were arrested along with an unnamed 15-year-old in connection to a bizarre baby formula theft at the Gettysburg Walmart on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. Ciuciu used the 15-year-old to transport the stolen goods from the store that she supposedly needed “to s…

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by Jillian Pikora
Hamilton Township, NJ
Your Community
Feds Approve $248M Food Benefits For 600K NJ Children Feds Approve $248M Food Benefits For 600K NJ Children Feds Approve $248M Food Benefits For 600K NJ Children
Feds Approve $248M Food Benefits For 600K NJ Children Nearly 600,000 New Jersey schoolchildren could quality for extra food benefits that otherwise would have been spent on free or reduced meals at school, officials said. Schools have been closed since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak. New Jersey requested assistance from the Trump Administration, which gave its OK on Monday for proximately $248 million in federal aid. Each student who currently quality for subsidized meals will get an extra $416.10, officials said.  Families already receiving aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will have the money added to …

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by Jon Craig
Newark, NJ
Breaking News
Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam
Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam The former manager of a Newark supermarket admitted taking part in a multi-million scheme to defraud the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said.  Juan Pedorno ran M&R Supermarket from October 2015 to September 2018, a period when the market was accepting SNAP payments via specially issued debit cards. The federally funded SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, allows users to purchase food but the benefit cannot be exchanged for cash.  But authorities say Pedorno, along with his son Jose, did just that, exchan…

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by Paul Milo
Teaneck, NJ
Breaking News
Store Owner From Teaneck Admits Pocketing $750,000 Of Taxpayer Money In Food Voucher Scam Store Owner From Teaneck Admits Pocketing $750,000 Of Taxpayer Money In Food Voucher Scam Store Owner From Teaneck Admits Pocketing $750,000 Of Taxpayer Money In Food Voucher Scam
Store Owner From Teaneck Admits Pocketing $750,000 Of Taxpayer Money In Food Voucher Scam A now-former store owner from Teaneck who was captured after fleeing the country admitted Thursday that he scammed the federal government out of more than $750,000 through a federal food voucher scheme. Jamil Bader, 60, put a small grocery store that he owned on Clinton Avenue in Newark in another person’s name because he’d been banned from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) because of similar wrongdoing, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. This time, Bader admitted, he “repeatedly exchanged SNAP benefits for cash and kept a portion of the proceeds for him…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Breaking News
Wayne Couple Admits Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps From Their Paterson Grocery Wayne Couple Admits Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps From Their Paterson Grocery Wayne Couple Admits Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps From Their Paterson Grocery
Wayne Couple Admits Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps From Their Paterson Grocery A married Wayne couple who managed a grocery store in Paterson under someone else's name admitted Wednesday in federal court that they bought $4.5 million worth of food stamps from customers. Ibrahim Zughbi, 65, and his 61-year-old wife, Miriam, opened Jamaica Meat Market, a medium-size grocery store, in January 2014. They were authorized to accept benefits provided by SNAP -- formerly known as the Food Stamp Program -- which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Noticing a high volume deducted electronically through SNAP debit card…

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by Jerry DeMarco