Four South Florida men are accused in a years-long $19 million scheme to defraud the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that is meant to help low-income families buy food.
Three convenience store owners in Broward and Miami-Dade County who were authorized to accept SNAP benefits are accused in the scheme, according to an indictment: Rajaie Ahmad Ali, 63, of Miramar, who operated Brown Sugar in Lauderhill; Cristian Giovanni Amaro, 27, of Miami, who operated Quickie Mini Market in Hollywood; and Sami Jamhour, 43, of Hollywood, who operated Kwik Stop in Miami.
The fourth man facing federal charges is Adel Amro, 23, who was an employee at the Miami convenience store, federal prosecutors said in a news release Thursday.
From 2019 through May 2026, the men allegedly participated in exchanging SNAP benefits at a discounted rate for cash while making it look as if SNAP recipients were legitimately purchasing eligible food, according to the indictment filed in early July. The stores kept the rest as profit.
Amro, who worked at the Miami store, would charge an inflated amount on recipients’ EBT card through a point-of-sale terminal and then pay the recipients about 50% of the charged amount in cash, the indictment alleged.
Ali and Amaro allegedly gave the point-of-sale terminals assigned to their stores to Jamhour to be used in his Miami store, federal prosecutors said, though it is against the program’s rules to share terminals.
Ali received $18 million in proceeds from the EBT card charges and withdrew $12 million in cash to give to Jamhour’s store to continue the scheme, according to the indictment.
Ali is facing charges of conspiracy to commit SNAP trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and structuring. He could receive a maximum prison sentence of 65 years. Originally from Jordan, Ali is subject to a final order of removal, prosecutors said in the news release Thursday.
Amaro received $1 million in proceeds and withdrew $600,000 for Jamhour’s store. He is facing charges of conspiracy to commit SNAP trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and structuring and faces a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison.
Jamhour is facing charges of conspiracy to commit SNAP trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, three counts of money laundering and four counts of structuring, a maximum possible sentence of 50 years.
Amro is facing charges of conspiracy to commit SNAP trafficking, SNAP trafficking and money laundering and faces up to 30 years in prison.