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A former couple from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Mervat Gharib, 60, and Adam Rashwan, 63, operated the Capital City Family Market on North Sixth Street, where they allowed customers to illegally exchange SNAP benefits for cash.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the fraudulent activities took place from January 2017 to August 2020. During this period, undercover transactions revealed that the couple defrauded the program of over $1 million. The investigation found that the store processed unusually large SNAP transactions, with the average transaction amount significantly exceeding typical amounts for similar stores.
The couple was charged in October 2022 and pled guilty in November 2022. The Capital City Family Market has since closed, and Gharib and Rashwan have been ordered to pay restitution of over $1 million to the USDA’s SNAP program. The case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General and the FBI.