Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Michigan
Monday, Aug. 3, 2015
Two Detroit brothers have been sentenced to federal prison for the roles they played in a fraudulent food stamp scheme, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade has announced. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony V. Mohatt, of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General. On July 20, 2015 U.S. District Court Judge Robert H. Cleland sentenced Yousef Haddad, age 57, to 42 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $1,182,705.00 in restitution. Previously, on June 9, 2015 Haddad’s brother, Khalil Haddad, was sentenced by Judge Cleland to 34 months imprisonment, 36 months supervised release, and ordered to pay $978,277.00 in restitution. According to court records, between January of 2008 and September of 2011 Yousef and Khalil Haddad engaged in a scheme of fraudulently obtaining in excess of $1 million from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, more commonly known as the Food Stamp Program. The scheme involved their convenience store, Dollar City, located on Rosa Parks Blvd. in the City of Detroit. The Haddads would pay cash for food stamps usually at 50 cents to the dollar. They would then obtain 100% reimbursement from the United States Department of Agriculture through its Food and Nutrition Services Agency. Special Agent-in-Charge Mohatt stated: “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was created to provide food and nutrition to those who truly need this assistance. Those who are involved in fraud and abuse of SNAP and other USDA programs will be aggressively pursued by our office. Our joint investigation with the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) and Michigan State Police - Bridge Card Enforcement Team (MSP-BCET) has brought Yousef and Khalil Haddad to justice. The USDA Office of Inspector General will continue to dedicate resources and work with our federal and state law enforcement partners in order to protect the integrity of these programs and to prosecute those who commit fraud."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
