Four South Florida store owners and operators are facing federal criminal charges after allegedly running a massive, years-long scheme to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) out of more than $19 million by trading food benefits for cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami announced Thursday.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment charging the men for their roles in trafficking taxpayer-funded benefits across Miami-Dade and Broward counties from July 2019 through May 2026, prosecutors said in a statement.
According to federal court records, the defendants operated through three neighborhood retail locations:
- Brown Sugar, owned by Rajaie Ahmad Ali, 63, of Miramar.
- Kwik Stop, owned by Sami Jamhour, 43, of Hollywood.
- Quickie Mini Market, owned by Cristian Giovanni Amaro, 27, of Miami.
Adel Amro, 23, of Fort Myers, allegedly served as a recruiter, seeking out SNAP recipients willing to exchange their benefits for cash, prosecutors said…