How Illegal EBT Works

 I sat down this week and got to understand how EBT-card fraud occurs.

So....'Wendy' goes and gets registered for her and the kids to be on SNAP (the food stamp program).  At the minimum....she could get $200.  But on the max-side...it could  go up to $1,500.

Wendy has four kids in this scenario, and gets $1,500 in EBT money.

Wendy goes to a 'dealer', who offers  Wendy cash....$1,000 minimum....maybe even $1,250 in cash.  On the books....Wendy can't collect cash, alcohol, tobacco, or hot prepared meals (like McDonalds or Pizza).  But with the $1,200 in cash....she can get booze, smokes,  weed, or pizza.

The dealer?  They have a card to immediately buy grocery items or $1,500.  They have several options then....offer to sell Wendy $900 of groceries for $1,000....offer some 'mom-and-pop' shop $10,000 of groceries from Costco at a rate of $10,500.

Illegal?  Well....it's a federal felony under 7 U.S. Code § 2024, with penalties including permanent disqualification from SNAP, fines up to $250,000, and up to 20 years in prison.