Erin Perkins is Eater’s Editor, South, covering Atlanta, Nashville, Miami, New Orleans, and the Carolinas. She has been writing about the food scene in the Carolinas and Savannah for 12 years. Erin has resided in Charleston, South Carolina, for the past 20 years.
On Wednesday, May 7, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation arrested chef-owner Melissa Araujo of popular Honduran cafe Alma on charges of government benefits fraud. According to multiple news outlets, Araujo is said to have misrepresented her income in order to collect Medicaid benefits totaling $55,000.
According to NOLA.com, Araujo allegedly received deposits worth $384,147.51 in her personal bank account between June 2020 and September 2022. She allegedly told an employee of the Louisiana Department of Health that she had not “engaged in work” since 2022. Someone making over six figures would not typically be eligible for Medicaid benefits…