PITTSBURGH — Two Pittsburgh business owners are accused of stealing food benefits and turning them into profit.
Investigators with the Attorney General’s office call it a fencing operation, where someone buys and resells stolen goods for profit.
On Monday, the AG’s office issued a warrant for the arrest of a husband and wife who were reportedly stealing from the federal government.
“You’re robbing from the taxpayer that’s working so hard,” Mike Ichimura said.
Shoppers like Ichimura were shocked to hear Munir Chaudhri and Rachna Anwar are accused of coming to Sam’s Club on Mount Nebo Road to use stolen EBT card funds to buy goods for their North Side businesses.
According to the Attorney General, the couple used the fraudulent cards 834 times at Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle and Tom Friday’s Market across four years, starting in 2021.
Investigators say the couple used 453 different EBT cards with a total theft of over $178,000.
“We’re paying these exorbitant taxes and I don’t know anybody who doesn’t think their taxes are exorbitant and then the money is going so they can rob essentially rob our pockets only to sell to the poor on the North Side that just seems like an extra layer of despicable doesn’t it,” Ichimura said.
According to the criminal complaint, Chaudhri and Anwar would buy EBT cards from “drug addicts” for half of the card’s value - then take that EBT card to Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle and Tom Friday’s and use it to buy goods for their businesses - “The Deli” and “Lillen’s Restaurant” on East Ohio Street.
“I’m a small business owner, so I understand trying to find margin and things like that. But like you’re stealing from the poor, you know what I mean to kind of scam the poor, that to me is the frustrating part,” Ichimura said.
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