DOJ Sweep Targets 40-Plus Over $42 Million in SNAP Fraud

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that its first National USDA Benefits and Program Fraud Enforcement Surge brought actions against more than 40 defendants between September 1 and October 21. The department says the alleged or proven schemes caused nearly $45 million in intended losses to the federal government. Nearly $42 million of that involved SNAP, the food-stamp program. The Fraud Division, 13 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Utah Attorney General’s Office took part.

One indictment alone alleges an estimated loss of approximately $29.7 million. In Atlanta, federal prosecutors say Mercedes Reshard New, who posts as Shawty Dred to more than two million Instagram followers, controlled more than 350 fraudulent SNAP accounts created with stolen identities. The indictment accuses him of duping the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services into transferring approximately $4,600,000 and siphoning approximately $4 million from those accounts. He was arrested October 13, CBS Atlanta reports.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the schemes “siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans of the benefits they depend on so fraudsters could use them for their own selfish purposes.” Vice President JD Vance announced the results in Cincinnati, VINnews reports. The same day, DHS announced a separate ICE operation against immigrants accused of fraudulently obtaining SNAP benefits, and named five people arrested in its first phase.

Why it matters

Nearly $42 million in alleged SNAP fraud surfaced in one surge, the department’s first of its kind.

Prosecutors say one defendant flaunted private jets while the money came from accounts meant for poor families.