Food Stamp Fraud

As the hard economic times the United States is experiencing has spread more and more individuals have looked into how to begin receiving food stamp card benefits.  Unfortunately, along with the increased popularity of the food stamp program (which is formally known under the law as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) there has come increased methods by recipients to find a way to skirt the rules associated with the limits on what can be purchased with the food stamp card.  For example, tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs cannot be purchased.  Additionally, individuals attempt to “double up” on the amount they receive through various schemes.

The number of recipients under the food stamp program has significantly increased from 26 million individuals in 2007 to more than 44 million as of 2011.  The costs associated with providing benefits under this program have likewise increased – from $33 billion to $77 billion (more than double).

The program is overseen on a federal level by the United States Department of Agriculture.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Agriculture has a mere 40 individuals enrolled to watch for fraud among more than 200,000 stores and other companies where food stamp money is taken.  Merchants engaging in potential food stamp fraud is one thing, but individual recipients breaking the rules is another.

All across the nation, reports have sprung up of people committing food stamp fraud.  For example, in Wisconsin almost 2,000 individuals claimed that they lost their card more than 5 times in a given year and asked for a new card with funds deposited in it.  Others are seen selling their cards through public mediums such as Craigslist or Facebook.

In Washington State, undercover operations by local media outlets showed food stamp recipients selling the cards for half their value on the street and then using the money they received for prostitution, drugs or both.  In other states, prison inmates are successfully applying for food stamp benefits, including 30% of all inmates in one Iowa jail.  None of the recipients were ever charged with food stamp fraud because the application from the Iowa department of welfare never specifically asked whether the individual was incarcerated or not.

In what has to be the most absurd result related to food stamp fraud, a Michigan man who won a $2 million lottery jackpot and who had previously been a food stamp recipient won the right from the Michigan Department of Human Services to continue receiving food stamps.  Because income eligibility is only examined in Michigan’s food stamp program and because the lottery payment was received as one lump sum instead of a stream of payments over time, the winner retained his income eligibility.

More examples could be shown.  Suffice it to say, food stamp fraud is alive and well in the United States on a variety of levels.

Source: online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304657804576401412033504294.html

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