Countries that are too generous with welfare and social programs dole out millions of dollars to people that filed fraudulent applications all without so much as any investigation or concern by agencies. Does anyone care outside of the taxpayers themselves? Where is the outrage?
Thousands of Brits have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS. Money for travel and weapons for the jihadis comes from tax dollars. Australia, a country that has the most fighters in ISIS has the same issue and has worked to stop some welfare payments.
On the American home front, it is no different. Islamic Relief Worldwide, the same charity connected to the mayor of Baltimore, continues to fund terrorism, so why would they be able to keep their IRS tax-exempt status?
Yet when it comes to entitlement programs in the United States funding jihad, the cases number in the thousands. A sting operation in Alabama called Operation T-bone found 17 suspects using EBT cards to send money to Yemen, where the Houthis, an Iranian militia has taken control of the country. In Minnesota, two Somalia men used their college grant money to travel to the Middle East to join militant groups.
One of the more well known terrorists, the Tsarnaev brothers, otherwise known as the Boston bombers did the same thing.
‘The family of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the two brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bomb attacks, received food stamps and welfare when the brothers were growing up, according to a letter from the state Department of Transitional Assistance that was obtained by the Globe.
In the letter, sent Thursday to the chairman of the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee, the department outlined the benefits that the brothers had received through their parents, Anzor and Zubeidat, as well as benefits Tamerlan Tsarnaev later received as a member of his wife’s household.
Anzor and Zubeidat received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as food stamps, from October 2002 to November 2004, when Dzhokhar would have been about 8 to 10 years old and Tamerlan 15 to 17. The family also received them from August 2009 to December 2011, according to the letter.
Anzor was also a Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children grantee from January 2003 to March 2003, and again from August 2009 to June 2010.’
In 2014, there was yet another case of EBT fraud and synthetic marijuana in Davie, Florida where citizens themselves were the whistleblowers as the investigations found the money was going overseas to fund terrorism.
In Baltimore, 9 separate retailers and $7 million in food-stamp network has done the same thing.
The indictments allege that the defendants exchanged EBT benefits for cash, in violation of the food stamp program rules. The indictments allege that the defendants typically paid half the value of the EBT benefits in cash. To avoid detection, the defendants often debited the funds from the card in multiple transactions over a period of hours or days. As a result of unlawful cash transactions, the defendants obtained more than $6,898,000 in EBT deposits for transactions in which the stores did not provide food.
According to the indictments, the defendants listed below owned and/or operated stores in Baltimore that were authorized to accept SNAP. The defendants received instruction regarding the requirements and regulations of the food stamp program, including that only eligible food items could be exchanged for EBT benefits and that a retailer may never exchange EBT benefits for cash or non-food items.
Abdullah Aljaradi, age 51, of Baltimore: Second Obama Express and D&M Deli and Grocery, 901 Harlem Avenue, Suite A and B, respectively. From October 2010 through July 2013, Aljaradi allegedly obtained more than $2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred.
Dae Cho, age 66, and Hyung Cho, age 40, both of Catonsville: K&S Food Market, 3910 W. Belvedere Avenue. From November 2010 through July 2013, Dae Cho and her son Hyung Cho allegedly obtained more than $1.4 million in in payments for food sales that never occurred.
Abdo Mohamed Nagi, age 54, of Baltimore: New York Deli and Grocery 1207 West Baltimore Street. From February 2011 through May 2013, Nagi allegedly obtained more than $1.2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred.
None of this is new, cases were common going back to 2004, yet with ten years hence, why have this continued? The FBI and government agencies have the tools to track the fraud, money laundering and terror support structures. Where is the outrage?
