PORTLAND, Ore. -– Federal agents and Portland Police Officers arrested a North Portland woman April 6 and charged her with what is commonly known as Food Stamp Fraud.
Bounthan Somsanouk, 54, the proprietor of the Oriental Market in North Portland was charged with fraud under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Somsanouk appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Hubel on Thursday and was conditionally released. She is scheduled to be arraigned May 5.
According to the complaint, a five-month investigation revealed that Somsanouk repeatedly purchased “Oregon Trail” Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards from participants in the food stamp program, paying them approximately half the value of the cards in cash.
Both federal and state law prohibit exchanging or redeeming food stamp benefits for cash. Because Oriental Market had been disqualified from the Food Stamp program in 2004 for program violations, Somsanouk redeemed the cards at Portland-area stores to acquire inventory and build credit balances at reduced costs.
Documents supporting the complaint establish that Somsanouk engaged in 19 separate transactions with government agents during the investigation, and that the agents witnessed numerous other illicit transactions occur in their presence while working undercover.
“Defrauding our nation’s nutrition programs diverts scarce resources from alleviating hunger and malnutrition, unjustly reallocating them to profiteering and greed,” said U. S. Attorney Dwight Holton. “These resources represent hard-earned dollars of taxpayers who expect that program funds will be used for the purposes intended. We cannot abide the victimization of this critical national program.”
Noting the joint federal-local nature of the investigation, Holton commended the work of the United States Department of Agriculture, (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the North Portland Neighborhood Response Team, a component of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB).
Special Agent-in-Charge Lori Chan, Western Region, USDA, OIG, San Francisco, Calif., said, "Fraud occurring in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a major investigative area for the OIG. Criminal activity by some SNAP vendors defrauds the program of resources meant to assist needy families and undermines program integrity. OIG agents conduct extensive investigative operations across the country to uncover and deter SNAP fraud and abuses.
In this particular case, beginning in late 2010, OIG agents spent months engaged in gathering direct evidence of SNAP trafficking at the store. We appreciate the support and collaborative efforts from both the Portland Police Bureau and the U.S Attorney’s Office in making this a successful investigation.”
Portland Police Bureau North Precinct Commander James Ferraris said, "This federal investigation into food stamp fraud by the USDA Office of the Inspector General and the Portland Police North Precinct Neighborhood Response Team is expected to have a significant impact on crimes fueled by this criminal activity including drug dealing and identity theft that affects the livability of our North Portland neighborhoods."
Prosecutions involving individual recipients who redeemed their benefits for cash will be referred to the Multnomah Co. District Attorney’s Office for prosecution. As in all criminal cases, a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The federal Food Stamp Program was re-named the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008. The program allocates federal funds to be administered by the states to alleviate hunger and malnutrition.
In 1998, the USDA, through the State of Oregon Department of Human Services Children, Adults and Families Division, converted from a traditional paper food stamp coupon system to what is known as an Electronic Benefit Transfer card.
Fraud under the SNAP is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when, as in this case, the benefits exceed a value of $5,000. The USDA, OIG; and the PPB, North Portland Neighborhood Response Team jointly conducted this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Atkinson is prosecuting the case.
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