How can it be, that "whites" commit fraud..or food stamp fraud..or steal..or ???
Great post...

:Investigators say....people used their food stamps to get food or alcohol"

accepted Billions in Welfare to bail them out after they gambled away the people's money. Is there a law attached to their Corporate Welfare Bailouts forbidding THEM from spending any of our Tax Dollars on Alcohol?

Kinda blows the whole talking point to pieces doesn't it?

my granddaughter messaged me this story

Prosecutors discover white people using food stamps, decide it must be fraud.

Everyone I know on food stamps is actually white, now that I think about it.

...to buy food from the Old Time Butcher Block store?...

I understand the alcohol issue,...but, food?...

Citizen's arrest!... Citizen's arrest!...

TYY

...I'll bet that's exactly what's going on.

TYY

that they could not buy alcohol with our tax dollars?

I also see the point of the OP.

store apparently is taking food stamps for alcohol. That is the crime.

I understand that using food stamps to buy alcohol would be fraud, if the store owner was ringing it up as food.

But the article also says that food was purchased.

So it seems to me the fraud would be that these people were not eligible for food stamps...?

Or that the food stamp/ebt cards were sold to them...?

Or that the transactions themselves involved hacking the point of sale machine...? Why is a "ring" involved...?

I wish the article had detailed the nature of the fraud.


If the people involved were all eligible for food stamps but were buying alcohol instead (self-medication, addiction...), then I don't think a "fraud" arrest or implicating them in some kind of "crime ring" is really going to help them pull themselves out of their situation. An arrest record will only make things worse.

ain't a bad place to break a drinking habit.

All of the arrestees were released on appearance tickets returnable in Moira Town Court, unless otherwise noted. Additional arrests are pending.

http://www.empirestatenews.net/News2015/20150210-4.htm

Also: North Bangor store owner charged with misuse of food stamps

http://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/north-bangor-store-owner-charged-with-misuse-of-food-stamps/article_12f305da-2610-55bf-8c8c-1b3c631ce073.html

Again, I'd like to know if the people were eligible for food stamps first.

If they were ELIGIBLE for food stamps, and they were in a situation like the Oakland area where they don't give you cash for basic necessities and deduct it from your benefits if you try to obtain that cash otherwise, then I can see trying to get cash somehow. You really do need some cash for utility bills, bus tickets, over the counter medicines, hygiene products, etc. There are things you NEED that are not food and the State currently does not provide for. It drives me nuts that the law tries to criminalize people for meeting their basic needs and just trying to survive until things get better.

If these people WEREN'T eligible for food stamps - if this really is some criminal ring who had some scheme going with the store owner: that's a different story. Then it's sad they handed the GOP another weapon against Food Stamps.

I just hope that people won't end up being punished for being poor here.

I'm going to dig for more info. If they were in on it as fraudsters - that's one thing.

If they were going to make the purchase to sell it for bus fare - the safety net is broken.

Don't care bout their skin color!

The reports are confusing, but they 34 people arrested don't fit the profile of what American's have been told is taking place. Which I'm going to go out on a short limb here and say is why these reports are not very comprehensive.

Great find CatWoman!

One kind of fraud is okay.

And why are we not investigating the banksters!

Meanwhile, Michael Brown was a "thug" who - oh well - deserved to get shot for a "strong armed robbery" of $5 worth of cigarillos.

Interesting to see who gets the benefit of the doubt, even on a liberal discussion board.

because I know that thousands of people are getting help they really need.

I am so fed up of these people who condemn someone because they happen to be poor. I wish those that condemn could live a week, a measly week, on foodstamps, without health insurance, with no home, etc.

I had an argument once with someone who saw someone on foodstamps buying a soda for their kids - so freaking what? May be it was their birthday? But it shouldn't matter - why can't kids whose parents are on foodstamps have a little something special too?

projecting on black people others what they think they are getting away with.

Three people come to mind in the very small world that I as a disabled American live in. All three of these people are indeed die-hard pukes. They hate the poor and want ever red cent they can lay their hands on. It sickens me badly and I've quite recently had to more or less dump a person I've known for almost 30 years because she pretty much hates the poor while she herself draws a nice pension and is now trying to get on SSDI. It angers me something fierce and because of this, I've pretty much cut the cord with her and her stupidity.

In hindsight = no big loss.

Oh well ....

from me received over 1.5 MILLION dollars in crop subsidies over the past five years and is always complaining about people on food stamps.

they just made a mistake in they way they were distributing revenue. That happens and it is risky.

So now, they should get both bailed out and a big bailout with a slap on the wrist, some "shame on you" and an increase in their benefits.

That would only be fair since their capitalistic ingenuity was admirable by banking standards. At least they weren't laundering huge amounts of drug money or showing people how to cheat on their taxes.

those people aren't dark enough to commit fraud.

the coffin of food stamps and it's by getting the public to believe there is mass fraud when there really is not. When it comes to fraud it's probably less than 1% but hey you bust 30 people who were buying booze instead of food and it's all the right wing needs to get the public against a good program.

You know every time they do one of these food stamp stings all they are doing is putting a nail in the coffin of food stamps and it's by getting the public to believe there is mass fraud when there really is not. When it comes to fraud it's probably less than 1% but hey you bust 30 people who were buying booze instead of food and it's all the right wing needs to get the public against a good program.