10 Arrested in Food Stamp Crackdown

About 10 people were arrested Saturday while trying to profit from the emergency distribution of food stamps, federal investigators said.

The arrests and seizure of “a significant amount” of cash and food stamps were made outside a food stamp distribution center at Broadway and Manchester Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles, according to Dave Dickson, the Department of Agriculture’s regional inspector general.

The food stamps are in plentiful supply because they are being distributed to earthquake victims with few checks, prompting long lines and numerous reports of fraud.

Those arrested Saturday were buying the stamps at a discount from recipients and planning to resell them to retailers at a profit, Dickson said. The retailers can redeem them at full value with the federal government.

Dickson said scam artists literally swarmed around people as they picked up their emergency food stamps. “We’ve had fistfights between (scam artists) trying to buy stamps,” he said.

Trafficking in food stamps is a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

The fraud rings operate somewhat like drug-selling operations, Dickson said. One person sits in a car, holding large quantities of cash, then runners are sent out to buy the food stamps for cash, generally for half their face value.

The agency earlier said it was suspending its earthquake emergency food stamp program for today to implement anti-fraud plans.

Dickson said the flood of food stamps on the market offers a “golden opportunity” for ripping off the system. “We’re going to stop it,” he said.