Eight people were charged for their alleged involvement in a fraud scheme that stole $7 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The alleged scam impacted thousands of people between April 2023 and September 2025, including some residents who never received the benefits stolen from them, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The eight individuals are accused of using the names of delis — real and fake — to open merchant processing accounts that could be used to steal Electronic Benefits Transfer numbers and the personal identification numbers associated with each account, according to prosecutors…