Mark Mandell, Esq.
The Bridge Card is debit-card
like device in use today that electronically tracks food stamp benefits for
those in need at the hand of taxpayer dollars. For Noha Fofana and Akhir
McFarland, however, the bridge card represented an opportunity to pull in
revenue at the Mandingo African Market.
Fofana and others at the Mandingo
African Market would obtain card numbers and call them into the store, where
they would be manually entered into the system allowing for the transference of
benefits from the card to the store’s bank account. U.S. Attorney Barbara
McQuade says that Fofana, the owner of Mandingo African Market, pulled in more
than $750,000 in food stamp benefits from February 2009 to July 2011. State
officials have calculated Mandingo’s average food stamp redemption amount -
$26,798 per month – which stands in stark contrast to other convenience stores
in the area that only redeem approximately $5,479.
As a result of the fraudulent
scheme, Fofana was sentenced to four years, three months in prison. Moreover,
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ordered Fofana to pay $612,980.96 in
restitution to the USDA-Food and Nutrition Service.
“We hope that other merchants
will become aware of prosecution like this one and be deterred from engaging in
similar fraud schemes,” McQuade said.
If you have any questions about
criminal or fraudulent activity, contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez of
Fausone Bohn, LLP at (248) 380-0000.
To learn more and read the
original article, please visit: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/12/store-owner-sentenced-in-612000-food-stamp-fraud/
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