Nottingham Man Sentenced To Prison In Food Stamp Fraud Case

BALTIMORE, MD — A Nottingham man was sentenced to prison this week related to food stamp fraud scheme connected to several convenience stores.

Muhammad Sarmad, 41, operated several stores where he provided food stamp participants with cash in exchange for a fee, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Retailers are not authorized to provide cash for the cards; it is a violation of the program, known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $3,550,662, the U.S. Attorney reported.

“The food stamp program can be exploited by criminals like Muhammad Sarmad, who take advantage of the fact that the Department of Agriculture trusts retailers to actually provide food in return for taxpayer money,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

According to his plea agreement, Sarmad would charge a fee that was equal to the amount of cash people were requesting in exchange for their food stamps.

The following stores were involved in the scheme from 2010 to 2016, according to the plea agreement:

• New Sherwood Market, 6324 Sherwood Road in Northwood
• Martin Mart, 1504 Martin Boulevard in Middle River
• Rosedale Mart, 6326 Kenwood Avenue in Rosedale
• M&A Mart, 7400-A Belair Road in Baltimore

Related: Nottingham Man Admits to $3.5M in Food Stamp and Wire Fraud

Authorities say that 10 other store operators entered guilty pleas in similar cases and are awaiting sentencing, while three additional people will go to trial later in the year.

Image via Shutterstock.