Author: FFP Ai Bot

CINCINNATI — Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche came to the Cincinnati area Wednesday, Oct. 21, to announce what they called the first nationwide crackdown on fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food aid once known as food stamps.

Since Sept. 1, the Justice Department’s new Fraud Division, 13 U.S. attorney’s offices and the Utah attorney general took actions against more than 40 defendants whose alleged or proven schemes caused nearly $45 million in intended losses to the government, the department said in a news release. Nearly $42 million of that involved SNAP benefits.

Vance said the money could have fed 220,000 Americans for the entire month of October, WKRC reported from the event in Blue Ash. “SNAP exists to help hungry children eat,” Vance said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Ohio cases

• $29.7 million, Southern District of Ohio: A federal grand jury indicted Jorag Yaseen and Rami Kanaan, who operated approved food stores in Chicago. Prosecutors allege that from about February 2024 to April 2025 they processed thousands of fake transactions using stolen Ohio and other states’ EBT account information, with no real sales. The indictment cites three transactions on March 4, 2024, involving a stolen card tied to a Greene County resident. They are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
• $1 million, Northern District of Ohio: Six people were charged by criminal complaint Oct. 6 with SNAP benefits fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that for about two years they swapped Ohio SNAP benefits for cash, marijuana and other items not allowed under the program at a gas station convenience store in Euclid, near Cleveland.

The Ohio Investigative Unit and Euclid police were among the agencies that took part, the department said.

Other cases

Other cases in the release include a $4.4 million case in Georgia against a rapper and social media personality accused of accessing more than 350 SNAP accounts, a Michigan case involving more than 650 stolen identities, and an Oregon ring that bought infant formula with stolen benefits. The department said several cases involved people it described as being in the country illegally.

“These schemes siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans of the benefits they depend on,” Blanche said in the release. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “Under the Trump Administration, food stamp fraud ends now.”

Wider SNAP changes

The announcement comes as federal changes under last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act shift more SNAP costs to states based on error rates. Ohio lawmakers agreed to cover part of the shortfall, but the Ohio Capital Journal reported the funding formula leaves multimillion-dollar gaps in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties.

SNAP recipients who think their benefits were stolen, and anyone who wants to report fraud, can find information on the USDA’s SNAP fraud page.

An indictment, information or complaint is only an allegation. All defendants who have not pleaded guilty or been convicted are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Sources

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/dojs-fraud-division-department-agriculture-and-usda-oig-uncover-nearly-42m-snap-benefit
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/vance-officials-announce-theyve-found-42-million-in-snap-fraud-jd-vice-president-todd-blanche-feed-families-indictments-million-dollars-nationwide
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/10/21/vice-president-jd-vance-of-ohio-backs-vivek-ramaswamy-amid-attack-ad-blowback/
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fraud
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:March_2026_Official_Vice_Presidential_Portrait_of_JD_Vance.jpg