New Brunswick Grocery Store Owner Sentenced For SNAP Fraud

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A man who lives in New Brunswick, and owned a grocery store in East Orange, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for running a fraud on the U.S. federal government's food stamp program.

Victor Madera, 67, of New Brunswick, was sentenced July 1 before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton federal court. He previously pleaded guilty to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of over $2 million and one count of engaging in SNAP benefits fraud.

His customers at the grocery store participated in the fraud, say federal prosecutors.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Madera owned a medium-sized grocery store, and was an authorized participant in SNAP.

Between May 2017 and November 2024, employees at Madera’s business illegally exchanged SNAP benefits for cash. The employees entered inflated dollar amounts for allegedly eligible SNAP transactions and provided SNAP recipients a percentage of the transaction’s value in cash, keeping the remainder.

As a result of this conduct, Madera received SNAP redemptions far in excess of the true value of the food and other SNAP-eligible items actually received by SNAP recipients.

Madera, through his business, unlawfully exchanged over $2.2 million of SNAP benefits for cash.