Woman in $3.6M food stamps fraud scheme gets year on prison

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WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – A woman who defrauded the federal government of about $3.6 million in food stamp benefits through a scheme she ran out of her Massachusetts convenience store has been sentenced to a year in prison.

The Telegram & Gazette reports Worcester resident Vida Ofori Causey also was ordered Monday to forfeit the money she made in what prosecutors called the largest food stamp fraud case in the state.

The 46-year-old Causey pleaded guilty in December to charges including conspiracy to commit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors had sought a nearly four-year prison term. Causey’s lawyer asked for probation.

Prosecutors say Causey and two employees paid customers 50 cents cash for every food-stamp dollar and then received the full value in reimbursement from the government.

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