Exclusive | Shocking undercover raid reveals secret workings of Californias multi-million dollar welfare fraud
Federal agents sprang a dramatic sting, arresting a Los Angeles shop worker accused of paying kickbacks to welfare recipients who made bogus purchases at his store, according to court papers detailing a fraud scheme that allegedly cost taxpayers millions.The Post was on the scene as federal agents in armored vests, backed by uniformed LAPD officers, swarmed Escamex Party Supplies in Skid Row on Thursday.Squad cars shut down Towne Avenue as investigators moved in on the warehouse-style storefront. Agents surrounded and cuffed Jesse Cervantes-Gomez, 30, as the Los Angeles resident exited the Escamex bodega in Skid Row where he works.
Cervantes-Gomez thought he was meeting a fraudster for another welfare kickback, but instead he was headed to jail.The takedown was just one of at least four such raids conducted in LA Thursday by the U.S.Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Homeland Security Investigations in a crackdown on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program retailer fraud.Also known as food stamps, SNAP is a federal program that provides monthly funding to help low-income residents buy groceries.
Benefits are issued on an Electronic Benefit Transfer card, which functions like a debit card at authorized retailers.But LA’s top prosecutor Bill Essaylli said such welfare benefits are too often used for illegal fraud kickbacks, or for the purchase of prohibited products such as alcohol and tobacco. “SNAP benefits are intended to provide monthly food assistance to low-income individuals, not to enrich fraudsters,” said Essayli.
“We will crack down on and continue arresting those who defraud American taxpayers.”Following Thursday’s raids, the USDA issued violation notices to 33 SNAP-authorized retailers across the city for the illegal exchange of SNAP benefits for cash and the sale of prohibited items such as alcohol and tobacco.Six stores were charged with selling SNAP benefits in exchange for cash while 27 stores were ch...