YOUTUBE (O’Keefe Media Group) - FRAUD IS THE NEW DOPE PART 2: NY Bodegas Caught Undercover Selling Alcohol Using SNAP & EBT Benefits
"Do you have beer?" "Yes." "He's paying with the EBT card?" "Oh, yes." "If you put it as food, they don't know it's beer." "Uh-huh." Not only did we expose EBT benefits being used to buy drugs, like ‘kratom’, we also revealed the bodegas across New York City selling us beer with EBT cards. In Queens, we asked him to run the beer as "food." He agreed and we walked out with beer purchased using an EBT card. Federal law is clear: SNAP benefits are for eligible food items only under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and 7 CFR 271.2. Alcohol cannot legally be purchased with SNAP benefits. These NYC retailers who intentionally process alcohol as food are violating federal SNAP regulations, subject to disqualification from SNAP…
Which federal regulation prohibits the exchange of SNAP benefits for cash, except as limited change in an eligible transaction?
The regulation 7 C.F.R. § 278.2(a) prohibits SNAP benefits from being exchanged for cash, except in the case of limited change during an eligible transaction.
Q&A ID 4faf804a-1218-468e-bc91-f2e48aeac856
How was a loophole used at a Harlem bodega to convert SNAP benefits into cash?
At a bodega in Harlem, a clerk manipulated an EBT transaction to convert taxpayer-funded benefits into cash, which was then used minutes later to purchase beer.
Q&A ID 4b89fff1-9188-4a0d-9a31-30ad0de3d5a5
Which federal laws dictate that SNAP benefits are only for eligible food items and prohibit the purchase of alcohol?
The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and 7 CFR 271.2 establish that SNAP benefits are for eligible food items only, meaning alcohol cannot legally be purchased with these benefits.
Q&A ID d9c30ef0-d44a-4b6e-b46a-8133499fc1b5
What are the legal consequences for NYC retailers who intentionally process alcohol as food using SNAP benefits?
Retailers violating these regulations are subject to disqualification from SNAP participation, civil penalties under 7 CFR 278.6, violations of New York State Crime S 110, and violations of their USDA Retailer Agreement.
Q&A ID 5fd5403c-1f55-4afc-8d76-7e5c1785ff63
What specific illegal activity was uncovered in Queens involving bodegas and EBT cards?
In Queens, undercover investigations revealed that bodegas are selling beer to customers using EBT cards by intentionally processing the alcohol transactions as "food" to avoid detection.
Q&A ID e523c83d-b37e-4c29-a2a2-3926204ee0dd
