Michigan: Liquor store owner, worker sentenced for $1.3M food stamp scheme

Robert Pomplun

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Michigan: Liquor store owner, worker sentenced for $1.3M food stamp scheme

Source: MLive

By Oona Goodin-Smith

July 14th

A liquor store owner in search the "American dream" and his employee have been sentenced after pleading to charges for their roles in fleecing the federal government in a scheme to purchase food stamp benefits from customers.

On Tuesday, July 11, Flint U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker sentenced Lakhbir "Lucky" Chahal to federal prison and Tony "Paco" Price to probation for their roles in the scheme. The pair each previously pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Chahal was sentenced to spend between 3.5 and 4.5 years behind bars, while Price's probation period is between 1.75 and 2.25 years.

Chahal operated Liquor Plus Mini Mart and Paradise House of Liquor and would pay customers 50 cents for each dollar of their food stamps benefits in exchange for cash and ineligible items such as cigarettes and alcohol, court records said.

Authorities also claim Chahal illegally used food stamp benefits to purchase stock for the stores.

The total amount of restitution in Chahal's case is nearly $1.3 million, according to court records.

All three worked at Liquor Plus Mini Mart and Paradise House of Liquor.

Price worked at both Liquor Plus and Paradise House and bought Bridge Cards from beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to court documents.

At the direction of Chahal, Price also used the Bridge Cards to buy inventory for Paradise House of Liquor, investigators said.

In a sentencing memorandum, Price's attorney, David Koelzer, wrote that his client was a "minimal participant" in the crime and only acting under the direction of Chahal, his boss. However, prosecutors did not budge on Price's sentence and maintained the range of 21 to 27 months of probation. 

Another employee, Jatinder "Bobby" Singh, also pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the case, and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Singh worked for Chahal at Paradise Liquor from February to October 2015, according to court records. 

While he worked there, Singh bought Bridge Cards from beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to court documents.

Singh, at the direction of Chahal, also used the Bridge Cards to buy inventory for Paradise House of Liquor, investigators said.

A federal grand jury has indicted the owner of a liquor store prosecutors are attempting to padlock over a spate of violence.

Federal prosecutors initially filed a criminal complaint against Chahal in mid-August.

Special agents from the United States Department of Agriculture began using undercover police officers and confidential informants in July 2014 to investigate potential fraud at the two stores, according to court records.

Chahal and employees of the stores on multiple occasions would provide undercover officers and informants cash in exchange for food stamp benefits. The cash payouts were often roughly 50 percent of the amount of benefits taken from investigators, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint.

Authorities also allege Chahal and the store's employees would purchase food stamp cards for later use at other stores, where he would then purchase food and drinks for sale at the liquor stores.

More than 100 food stamp cards were identified as being used by Chahal and his associates at one store alone, authorities allege.

Investigators claim records show Chahal's two stores were redeeming roughly $30,000 per month total in food stamp benefits since 2010. Convenience stores in Flint average only $3,500 in monthly food stamp redemptions, according to the affidavit.

According to a lengthy memorandum requesting a lesser sentence for the liquor store owner, Chahal's attorney, Dennis Lazar, said his client was chasing the "American dream" and "determined to make a better life for himself and provide financial support for his father and family back home (in India)."

Lazar characterized Chahal as a hard-working man who became involved with the food stamp scam after a dip in Flint's economy in 2015.

Saying Chahal was under "deafening" financial strain after falling behind on bills, Lazar wrote that his client sought the food stamp scheme as a means of staying afloat.

Singh is scheduled for sentencing before Parker on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 2:30 p.m.