After federal investigators alleged he traded government benefits such as food stamp and unemployment aid for cash, the owner of a Minnesota grocery business was sentenced to jail and compelled to pay millions in restitution.

Authorities allege Hared Nur Jibril of St. Cloud, along with several of his workers at Hormud Meat and Grocery Market, defrauded the US Department of Agriculture from 2018 to 2021. According to court papers, he is accused of enabling clients to swap Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits for cash, phone minutes, meals from an adjacent restaurant, and hair treatment.

Minnesota Store Owner Steals Food Stamp, Unemployment Aid Money

He would then report the illegal activities to the USDA and receive a full return for the food stamps. According to records, Jibril got $212.72 in benefits in January 2020 for Vaseline, dish detergent, perfume, an air freshener, $30 in cash, and other items.

According to a news release by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, Jibril defrauded the SNAP and WIC programs of over $4.1 million by participating in these fraudulent exchanges. Authorities also claim Jibril lied about being laid off during the COVID-19 outbreak to earn over $32,000 in unemployment benefits.

On April 6, Jibril's defense counsel did not immediately reply to a request for comment from McClatchy News. Jibril is characterized as a man who, beginning in 2009, opened a business and restaurant where the community might come for help in a letter to the court presented by his defense attorney, Miami Herald reported.

Jibril regrets breaching the law and stands before the Court at sentence prepared to face a fair and just penalty, according to his counsel. Mr. Jibril, on the other hand, has no regrets about the wonderful influence and transformation his activities have had on numerous individuals and his community.

He also said that Jibril is a deportable immigrant, which means that if he is convicted as a criminal, he might be deported to Somalia, where violent crime is rampant. Jibril was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy. He was sentenced to 30 months in jail, three years of supervised release, and $4,187,999.72 in restitution, according to The Charlotte Observer via MSN.

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Man Cashed in Multiple Fraudulent Stimulus Checks

Meanwhile, the Utica Police Department said that a man was arrested for Grand Larceny in March after allegedly cashing a phony stimulus check. Nicolas Smith, 37, of Utica, sought to cash a $1,400 stimulus check in a local check-cashing shop in February 2022. In March 2021, he had also cashed a check.

The firm declined to pay the stimulus money and reported it to the Utica Police Department, believing it was a bogus check. Nicolas Smith was able to cash the second check at a separate location after the investigation was turned over to the Criminal Investigations Division.

The Treasury Department had documents showing they pushed $1,400 checks forward from their check-cashing account, which put them at a loss, according to the Utica Police Department. Smith had reported the first check as stolen and had cashed it fraudulently, according to investigators in this instance. He was able to get the second stimulus check later.

On March 29, Nicolas Smith was arrested and charged with Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree. Eyewitnesses will update the story as fresh information becomes available, as per Digital Market News.

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