A New Brunswick man will serve more than two years in federal prison for using his grocery store as a front for a $2.2 million food stamp cash-out scheme.
Victor Madera owned a midsize grocery store in East Orange that was permitted to take Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments. From May 2017 to November 2024, he ran a simple but profitable scam in which his workers rang up inflated SNAP purchases, returned a portion of the money to clients in cash, and pocketed the rest.
It is prohibited to trade SNAP benefits for cash under any scenario. According to US Attorney Robert Frazer, the markup resulted in Madera’s business receiving significantly more in federal payments than the food was worth.
Madera admitted to conspiracy to defraud SNAP and SNAP benefit fraud. On July 1, U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch sentenced him to 27 months in federal prison and a year on supervised release. He was also forced to pay over $2.2 million in restitution and forfeiture, according to the Jersey Vindicator.
Special agents from the USDA’s Office of Inspector General headed the investigation.
With growing strain on SNAP over the past year, detecting and eliminating fraud is more crucial than ever for the program’s long-term viability.
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