More than $4.6 million must be repaid to the federal government by the manager of a grocery business in Birmingham, who pled guilty to tax and wire fraud charges.
Indicted in March 2021, 42-year-old Omar Motley was the manager of the Big B Food Mart located at 4012 24th Street North.
The restaurant was authorized by the USDA to receive food stamp benefits, and officials say the owner fraudulently redeemed EBT SNAP benefits for cash and ineligible items over three years, so manipulating the Supplemental Nutrition Act Program by millions.
Motley pleaded guilty in federal court in Birmingham on Wednesday to one count of tax fraud and one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre, according to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Prim Escalona, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Salina Walker, and IRS Criminal Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lisa Fontanette.
Motley must pay $847,001 to the IRS and $3,8 million to the USDA by the plea agreement.
The sentence of Motley is scheduled for November 8.
There is a potential punishment of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for tax fraud.
Twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine are the maximum penalties for wire fraud.
The USDA provides SNAP benefits to qualified users using electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which work like debit cards.
Between November 2014 and March 2017, Motley pled guilty to redeeming EBT SNAP benefits illegally for cash and ineligible products.
During this period, officials reported that the number of SNAP benefits redeemed at Big B Food Mart was 52 times more than the number of benefits redeemed at stores of comparable size in the area.
Motley withdrew about $3.7 million in cash from Big B Food Mart’s bank account after manipulating the SNAP program.
Motley pled guilty to tax fraud for underreporting to the IRS his 2015 SNAP benefits redemption income.
According to testimony presented by federal prosecutors at a hearing, Motley greatly exaggerated Big B Food Mart’s cost of goods sold on this return, resulting in a substantial reduction to his personal income tax due.
The restaurant was authorised by the USDA to accept food stamp benefits, and officials claim the owner fraudulently redeemed EBT SNAP benefits for cash and ineligible items over three years, thereby manipulating the Supplemental Nutrition Act Program by millions of dollars.
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The sentence of Motley is scheduled for November 8. There is a potential punishment of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for tax fraud.
Twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine are the maximum penalties for wire fraud.
“The funds appropriated by Congress for the SNAP program subsidize vital USDA initiatives to assist indigent families,” stated Escalona.
“I congratulate the efforts of our federal partners who ensured that this public money was used for their intended purposes.”
