Eleven Arrested After Investigation Into Food Stamp Fraud

The Seattle Police Department is investigating a multi-group crime ring targeting vulnerable members within the Chinatown-International District community.

Since July, SPD West Precinct officers have done surveillance – watching members of this crime ring exploit homeless and drug addicted individuals receiving EBT benefits, or food stamps.

Suspects offered cash payments—often a fraction of the benefits’ value—in exchange for EBT purchases.

To build a case, police dedicated five days between July and October to document EBT trafficking and have identified 18 suspects. Eleven have been arrested; seven more are still being sought.

West Precinct Capt. Marc Garth Green said patrol officers carved time out of their work schedules over the course of three months to investigate. He said they found two common schemes.

Scheme one:

“We observed suspects walking through groups of unsheltered individuals asking who had an EBT card with money on it,” Capt. Garth Green said. “They [suspects] would then take that person to a store with a shopping list.”

Suspects would pay EBT card holders’ in cash for the food and household goods. The suspects would then buy the items off EBT card holders at a discount. In some cases, they paid 50% less than the original cost.

The crime ring would then sell the food and household items to restaurants and businesses in King and Snohomish counties or to private individuals.

Scheme two:

“They [suspects} would walk through a group and ask who had EBT cards. They would then purchase the cards directly from the person. If they had $200 on card, they’d buy it for $100,” said Capt. Garth Green.

Once the suspects had the EBT cards, and the pin codes associated with each card, they’d use them to purchase food and household goods.

The goods would, again, be sold to restaurants, businesses, and private individuals in King and Snohomish counties.

Capt. Garth Green said that suspects worked in shifts, a morning crew, an afternoon crew, and an evening crew. The shifts worked independently and didn’t split the food, household goods, or EBT cards but were aware of what the other shifts were doing.

Officers found that crime ring members partnered up with drug traffickers to let them know who was paid in cash. Drug dealers then targeted those vulnerable individuals.

“Officers found that narcotics sellers were aware of the EBT schemes and that the addicted people now had cash on hand,” said Capt. Garth Green. “They [the drug dealers] would then be in the area selling narcotics to take advantage of the influx of cash.”

The individuals arrested have been booked into jail for investigation of Food Stamp Trafficking. The Seattle Police Department has partnered with the King County Prosecutor’s Office and the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) throughout the investigation.