The state has arrested a 52-year-old New Haven businessman and is in the process of disqualifying seven people from receiving food stamps in connection with the alleged sale of electronic benefit cards meant for use in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The businessman turned himself in to authorities in Rocky Hill this week for arrest on a first-degree larceny charge for allegedly using seven food-stamp recipients’ cards to purchase food and equipment for a restaurant he runs. He was released within an hour with a promise to appear in court.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, written by Inspector Matthew Schroeder of the state Division of Criminal Justice, an investigation found that the businessman used the cards of 12 different people on a total of 37 occasions between Jan. 1, 2013, and Jan. 30, 2014, to buy gallon containers of mayonnaise, 24 to 32 pounds of green beans, and other restaurant-sized bulk quantities of pork loins and oil and milk and ketchup at Sam’s Club on Boston Post Road in Orange.
Based on video surveillance, store receipts, interviews with store employees, and sworn statements from seven of the food stamp recipients themselves, Schroeder attested that the businessman made at least $5,004.87 in illegal purchases.
The affidavit charges that the businessman bought the cards for 50 cents on the dollar from the recipients, who in some cases used the money to feed a drug habit. In some instances, according to the affidavit, the businessman bought food, then returned it for cash in order to buy equipment not covered by the SNAP program.
On the advice of his attorney, the businessman declined comment when reached for this story, since the charges are pending.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Social Services has disqualified two of the 12 recipients allegedly involved in the scheme from the SNAP program, with “five others in the process of being disqualified,” according to department spokesman David S. Dearborn. The other five were not longer part of the program by the time of the investigation, he said.
“The disqualification period could range from one year to permanent, depending on previous offenses and court disposition,” Dearborn stated in an email message.