South Fayette man faces felony food stamp fraud charges

A South Fayette man is accused of using more than 50 different electronic benefits transfer cards to purchase almost $24,000 worth of soda and other food items to stock the grocery store where he worked, receiving reimbursements from his employer through illegal purchases.
Anjum A. Awan, 46, of 6050 Spring House Place, was charged Aug. 20 with buying or exchanging federal food order coupons through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP, and access device fraud.
The state Inspector General’s office said in a news release that the investigation started after someone from the Bethel Park Shop’n Save submitted a tip.
“He paid individual card recipients a fraction of the value of the cards then collected cash reimbursement from his employer for the food he bought with those cards,” the release states.
Investigators said Awan made $23,671 through this scheme, and benefit recipients told investigators they needed cash and Awan would give them half of their EBT card’s value.
State Inspector General Bruce Beemer said the case illustrated two issues.
“First, SNAP benefit trafficking is a real problem which affects our communities. Our office is working to target this kind of fraud and increase the penalties for traffickers,” Beemer said. “Second, the public can, and does, play a crucial role in reporting this kind of trafficking and helping our office to combat it.”
Awan paid 54 different SNAP recipients in cash for their cards between January 2016 and this February, allegedly using those cards to buy items from at least seven Pittsburgh area stores, investigators said. Police allege he stocked the grocery store where he worked, Ballie Food Market in McKeesport, with the purchased items, buying in some instances 50 cases of soda at a time. Awan submitted the receipts to his employer for cash reimbursement.
Owners of Ballie Food Market told investigators that Awan “managed the store and had full control of the inventory records and reports maintained by the store,” according to the criminal complaint.
McKeesport police assisted with the investigation and the case is being prosecuted by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office.