Plus, added tax payer goodness: $25 million in EBT money could be going to recipients who aren’t eligible.
From the Boston Herald:
"The loophole, Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz said last week, involves supermarkets, convenience stores and department stores that sell those things as well as EBT-eligible items — but there is no way the state’s cash card system can tell the difference."Maybe. But the tax payers sure the h3ll know the difference between takers and producers, but apparently that skill set is above the pay grade for our betters in gub'mint.
And, of course, this fraud is not limited to Massachusetts. Last year, an audit by the state of Missouri unearthed these welfare funds being accessed at ATMs in places like casinos and liquor stores, and in places as far away as American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Just last month, a Texas grocer was convicted of food stamp fraud (EBT) and sentenced to nearly five years in prison, plus ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution.
Related: from 2012, EBT fraud and abuse in 50 states.
