Flint resident Ella Montez Hodo had her food stamps stolen on April 16 by someone in New York, 680 miles away. The criminal spent $360 in two transactions that were funded by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Since Montez Hodo still had the card in her possession, it is likely that data on her card might have been stolen by a fake card reader, according to a police report Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request. That criminal probably sold the information via the dark web to another criminal in New York.
The theft was not an isolated incident. The state doesn’t protect food benefits for its most vulnerable 1.4 million residents, and in the last two years Michigan has endured a wave of crime involving stolen benefits. Now a bill in the state House is aiming to rein in the growing rate of food stamp fraud in Michigan…