Brothers Arraigned on WIC, SNAP Fraud at Atlanta Stores

Two metro Atlanta brothers have been arraigned on federal charges that claim they unlawfully purchased WIC vouchers and SNAP debit cards.

Rodney Byrd, 39, of Lawrenceville, and Reginald Byrd, 38, of College Park, Ga., were arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Janet F. King, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta.

Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 24.

“These defendants are charged with stealing money that was intended to be used to provide nutritious food to low-income mothers and children,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in the press release. “Our office will continue to pursue those individuals who seek to abuse government assistance programs for their own greed.”

Yates said Rodney Byrd owned and operated several Atlanta-area stores named “Tweet Baby Tweet,” “Chicos and Chicas Variety Store,” and “Tweets, Treats, and Nic Nacs.” Reginald Boyd managed at least one of the stores.

Prosecutores say the men told employees to make cash payments to customers in return for Georgia Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program vouchers and for the use of customer’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) debit cards. Both are violations of the terms of WIC and SNAP.

They are accused of making employees cash checks made out to the employees’ names and using the money to purchase the vouchers and cards.