A former USDA employee, Arlasa Davis, 56, of Gardiner, New York, was sentenced to two years in prison for orchestrating a massive SNAP fraud scheme involving over $66 million in illicit transactions.
Prosecutors claim she abused her role in detecting SNAP fraud by selling sensitive EBT license numbers to criminals, prompting U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley to state, “Arlasa Davis exploited her role as a government employee to enrich herself while undermining a program designed to help New York families in need,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.
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Davis photographed and shared hundreds of EBT license numbers that were used to set up fraudulent terminals in unapproved locations, intending to disguise her payments as “birthday gifts” and “flowers.” In addition to prison, she was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $48,470 and pay $36 million in restitution, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The USDA Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s New York Field Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Georgia V. Kostopoulos and Joe Zabel. The case involved fraud linked to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal program that provides food assistance to eligible families, and ended with Davis’ imprisonment.
