ALBANY — The operators of an Arbor Hill convenience store were arrested this week on federal criminal charges that accuse them of redeeming more than $1.5 million in fraudulent food stamp benefits during an 18-month period that ended in December.
Federal agents and State Police investigators raided the North Swan Street store on Tuesday morning, carting away evidence that ranged from bookkeeping records to $20,000 in cash and more than a dozen cellphones.
Two clerks were arrested along with Anwar Allamari, a Yemeni immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen whose son, Bandar Allamari, is the owner of the store and also listed as a defendant in the federal criminal complaint. Bandar Allamari has not been arrested and has been in Yemen since early last year, according to prosecutors…