Manhattan prosecutors have indicted eight people accused of running a scheme that drained more than $7 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from thousands of New Yorkers, using cloned EBT cards and fake deli accounts to siphon off the money between April 2023 and September 2025.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the city’s Department of Investigation announced the indictment, alleging the group created fraudulent merchant processing accounts tied to delis, bodegas and grocery stores, then repeatedly swiped stolen EBT cards to pay themselves, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. As FOX 5 New York reported, authorities say they busted a major fraud ring involving EBT that the Manhattan DA says involved millions of dollars.
Prosecutors allege 34-year-old Belal Hauter led the conspiracy, opening or directing others to open merchant processing accounts using the names of existing or fictitious delis. The scheme’s foot soldiers allegedly relied on stolen EBT account numbers and PINs, largely harvested through card skimmers, to manufacture cloned versions of recipients’ benefit cards, per the DA’s office.
Luxury Cars and Overseas Wire Transfers
The office says the stolen proceeds were funneled into multiple luxury vehicles and tens of thousands of dollars sent to Yemen. The defendants face charges of conspiracy in the fourth degree, grand larceny and identity theft, though the DA’s office emphasizes the charges remain allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent…