HAMMOND — A Gary grocer is going to prison for embezzling the federal food stamp program out of $5.1 million.
U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon imposed a 41-month sentence Friday on 53-year-old Mohammad Zaidan.
Zaidan, born in Aman, Jordan, moved to the United States at age 21 and became owner of the Tarrytown Food Mart, 2075 Clark Road, Gary, about six years ago.
Many of his customers bought discounted food from him under Indiana’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, with benefit formerly known as the food stamps.
Zaidan admitted, as part of his guilty plea to a wire fraud charge, that he developed a “cash back” scheme to enrich himself by illegally converting food benefits into cash.
SNAP benefits may only be used to purchase food, but Zaidan and his employees would routinely ring up hundreds of dollars in phony food purchases, give the customer cash and pocket a similar amount for himself.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Kelley stated in a memo to the court that Zaidan squandered this money by buying luxury cars for his family and sending funds overseas.
His fraud scheme ended last year following a government audit that disclosed Zaidan’s SNAP transactions were 2,709% higher than the average Lake County grocer.
He was charged with fraud and pleaded guilty in May 2020. He has agreed to make restitution to the government.