Bronx resident Khalil Moughawech was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in White Plains to two years in prison for his part in defrauding $1 million from the national food stamp program while a manager at Peso Value Plus in Yonkers.
According to a statement from Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Moughawech was the manager of the dollar store between 2010 and August 2013 and often operated the store”™s cash register. The store participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp program, in which people redeem SNAP benefits using an electronic benefits transfer card to purchase eligible food items. Between approximately September 2010 and August 2013, Moughawech conspired with others to exchange SNAP benefits for cash illegally, the U.S. attorney’s office said. The fraud resulted in a loss of $1 million to the federal program.
Moughawech, 42, was ordered to pay the $1 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to forfeit $1 million.
