2 NW Ind. stores indicted on food stamp fraud

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - The owners of two northwestern Indiana stores have been indicted on charges alleging that they manipulated the federal food stamp program to reap more than $500,000.

The federal indictment alleges the two Gary food marts allowed customers to use their food stamp debit cards like normal debit cards, giving them cash back and cigarettes in return.

The Post-Tribune reports 31-year-old Ola Mohammad and her 29-year-old brother, Abdkdar Mohammad, face one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and three counts of wire fraud. The siblings allegedly illegally redeemed food stamps at Moses Foods for about $473,000.

Twenty-seven-year-old Kaled Mohammad of Cicero, Ill., faces two counts of wire fraud in a separate but similar case for allegedly redeeming food stamps for about $60,000 at his Kay Mart store.