Washington: Two women have been jailed in the United States for illegally obtaining large quantities of cheese, mayonnaise and other foods. Ana Rioja and Maria Consulo de Ureno from Brownsville, Texas, were involved in a $ 1.2 million food stamp scam. Both pleaded guilty in court.
The lawsuit alleges that the two abused special benefits to obtain cheese, beans, coffee and potatoes worth more than $ 1.2 million and smuggled them across the U.S. border.
The two started the scam five years ago. During this time, the couple seized snap food stamps issued only to low-income families. The two carried out 713 illegal transactions using food snaps of hundreds of customers.
Authorities found 49.1 tonnes of American cheese slices, 22.3 tonnes of pinto beans, 1.6 tonnes of Folgers coffee and 5,000 gallons of mayonnaise in their possession. The investigation was launched in September 2016 by the Homeland Security Investigation and the Department of Agriculture. But it took years to find out more details about the scam. Rioja was sentenced to 30 months in prison and Ureno to 37 months in prison.