The Ohio Investigative Unit teamed up with state and federal partners in a nationwide enforcement surge targeting fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the Ohio Investigative Unit and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 21, 2026, the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, 13 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Utah Attorney General’s Office conducted the department’s first National USDA Benefits and Program Fraud Enforcement Surge, according to the Justice Department. The coordinated effort resulted in actions against more than 40 defendants whose alleged or proven schemes caused nearly $45 million in intended losses to the federal government, according to the Justice Department. Nearly $42 million of that amount involved fraud against SNAP benefits, according to the Justice Department.
“These schemes siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans of the benefits they depend on so fraudsters could use them for their own selfish purposes,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to the Justice Department.
The largest case listed in the national release is a Southern District of Ohio case. A federal grand jury indicted Jorag Yaseen and Rami Kanaan on charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud SNAP through fraudulent electronic benefit transfer transactions, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors allege the two operated approved retail food stores in Chicago, Illinois, and between approximately February 2024 and April 2025 processed thousands of transactions using stolen Ohio and other state EBT account information, according to the Justice Department. The indictment alleges the scheme resulted in an estimated loss of approximately $29.7 million to the United States, and identifies three alleged interstate wire transactions on March 4, 2024, involving a stolen Ohio EBT card associated with a Greene County resident and totaling $1,243.46, according to the Justice Department. Yaseen and Kanaan are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department.
In the Northern District of Ohio, six people were charged Oct. 6, 2026, in criminal complaints with SNAP benefits fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Sqar Qahtan, 31, Baligh Naji, 34, and Ahmed Al Hamami, 36, all citizens of Yemen residing in Euclid, Ohio, along with Mohsin Mohsin, 28, of Syracuse, New York, Mariah Hatcher, 30, of Euclid, Ohio, and Almotawakil Nassr, 29, of Detroit, Michigan, allegedly operated a conspiracy for approximately two years to exchange Ohio SNAP benefit cards for cash, marijuana and other non-SNAP items while employed at a gas station convenience store in Euclid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Identified members obtained at least $64,000 in SNAP benefits, with the conspiracy likely to have engaged in at least approximately $1 million in fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force, the Ohio Investigative Unit, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Euclid Police Department, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“You cannot exchange food program benefits for cash, illegal drugs, or anything else – it is a violation of federal law,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Also in the Northern District of Ohio, Glenda K. Jordan, 63, of Painesville, Ohio, was charged Sept. 9, 2026, with three counts of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, theft of government property and Supplemental Security Income fraud-knowing concealment, in an alleged scheme involving approximately $162,580 in intended loss, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. For more than a decade, Jordan allegedly misled government agencies to fraudulently obtain SNAP benefits, HUD-funded housing benefits and Supplemental Security Income benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A complaint, or indictment, are merely allegations, according to the Justice Department. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, according to the Justice Department.
