MIAMI – Authorities arrested the manager of a South Florida food store Thursday morning after accusing her of hatching a scheme where she impersonated other merchants and “hijacked” their food stamp payments.
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Investigators said Fidelina Othman Mohamad, 52, the manager of 7 Star Market at 1502 NW 60th St. in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, raked in $313,000 as part of the scheme involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds.
The case was investigated by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Public Assistance Fraud.
Investigators allege that Othman Mohamad, of northeast Miami-Dade, used fake checks to divert SNAP payments meant to go to two other markets into a 7 Star Market account.
They said she forged the signatures of the owners of Mars Market, at 6410 Sunset Strip in Sunrise, and Al Wahid Foods, a store in Woodlawn, Maryland.
Authorities said 7 Star Market was on the radar of investigators of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who “conducted a series of covert EBT trafficking operations” in March 2023.
“These undercover transactions confirmed the ongoing illegal exchange of SNAP benefits for cash,” a state investigator wrote.
That led state investigators to get a search warrant.
“One terminal was clearly marked ‘Food Only’ while a second had been used to facilitate illicit trafficking transactions,” the report states. “This operational setup was consistent with the parallel bank accounts associated with Othman’s fraudulent banking activity.”
Following her arrest, Othman Mohamad is facing one count each of first-degree grand theft and fraudulent use of identification.
As of Thursday afternoon, she was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $100,000 bond.