October 20, 2015
A former grocery store owner received a 30-month prison sentence Tuesday for defrauding the federal food assistance program.
Farhan Ali Abu Siam, 42, the owner of the now-defunct S&S Farmer's Market in North Philadelphia, admitted to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of $1.39 million during a 15-month period. He admitted to directing his employees to traffic in SNAP benefits by illegally purchasing those benefits from S&S customers.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic SNAP benefits and commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aiding and abetting trafficking in SNAP benefits.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova ordered Ali Abu Siam pay $.139 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and undergo three years of supervised release following his imprisonment. He also may not own or operate any company that accepts SNAP benefits while on supervised release.
