CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden man today admitted his role today in a scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funds using fraudulently procured electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Luciano Estevez, 50, pleaded guilty by teleconference before U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Estevez and his co-defendants: Jose Garcia, 52, of Camden; Octavio Rodriguez, 51, of Pennsauken, New Jersey; and Juan Melo, 56, of Woodlynne, New Jersey, were previously charged by separate complaints in August 2019 with participating in the conspiracy and defrauding SNAP. Melo previously admitted his role in the scheme when he pleaded guilty on April 28, 2020, to an information charging him with participating in the conspiracy and defrauding SNAP.

Formerly known as the Food Stamps program, SNAP is administered by the USDA to assist low-income individuals and families with the purchase of groceries and food items. SNAP recipients receive EBT cards, similar to commercial debit cards, to make food purchases. Retailers authorized to accept SNAP benefits have EBT terminals to process the food purchases. Food purchases are made by swiping the EBT card at the terminal, and having customers enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN). The EBT terminal verifies the PIN, determines whether the customer’s account balance is sufficient to cover the proposed transaction, and informs the retailer whether the transaction should be authorized or denied. The amount of the purchase is deducted electronically from the SNAP benefits reserved for the customer and the purchase amount is credited to the retailer’s designated bank account.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Estevez, Rodriguez, Garcia, Melo, and others allegedly targeted low-income individuals who possessed or had access to EBT cards, and unlawfully purchased the cards from these individuals in exchange for cash and controlled substances. Two confidential sources working with law enforcement engaged in 43 controlled transactions involving EBT cards totaling more than $40,500, which they exchanged for cash and controlled substances, including prescription opioids.

The defendants used the unlawfully procured EBT cards to purchase bulk goods and food items from large national superstores. These goods and food items were then resold in small convenience and grocery stores owned or affiliated with the defendants or their associates, resulting in a profit for the defendants. Hundreds of EBT cards fraudulently procured by the defendants were used at these superstores, resulting in the misappropriation of approximately $150,000 in government funds.

Estevez also unlawfully procured an EBT terminal registered to a superstore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to use at his small grocery store in Camden, which was not registered as a lawful SNAP merchant in the USDA program.  Through this terminal, the scheme netted approximately $110,000 in SNAP funds.

The conspiracy count to which Estevez pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The SNAP fraud offense to which Estevez pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; the FBI Philadelphia Field Office, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Driscoll in Philadelphia; and the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Joseph D. Wysocki.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina O. Hud of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.

The charges and allegations against Garcia and Rodriguez are merely accusations, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

LAKEWOOD, NJ – Two weeks ago the Federal Bureau of Investigation spent three days investigating different businesses in Lakewood and at some locations, agents were seen bringing boxes of medical equipment and supplies to their waiting vehicles, but two weeks later, the FBI isn’t saying what happened.

We’ve reached out to FBI field offices to get an update.  If it was nothing, then we feel the people who were target of the now very public investigation should be exonerated because their business names were plastered worldwide.  If they were guilty and there was a crime committed, there is the public need to know since the operation was such a huge visual spectacle and speculations about the raid have run wild.

The FBI’s official stance is that they do not confirm nor deny ongoing investigations, but when dozens of agents wearing FBI field jackets show up in your town, it’s kind of difficult for the agency to deny anything at all happened.   To date, no local law enforcement agency has divulged any information about the three day long investigation that went as quickly as it came.   Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged the ongoing investigation, prompting Murphy say of people who hoard medical supplies, “There’s a special place in hell for those people.”

LAKEWOOD, NJ (APRIL 25, 2020) – Friday was the third day of an ongoing FBI investigation in Lakewood Township related to medical equipment, but officials are still not even confirming the existence of the action.

It started Wednesday when over one dozen agents showed up at Lakewood Industrial Park warehouse.

WEDNESDAY

Agents showed up at a warehouse at approximately 4:30 pm located at 1980 Swarthmore Avenue.  The warehouse of Deco-Tile was where the agents were entering and exiting, later some were seen bringing out boxes of medical supplies.  No visible arrests were made.  We contact the FBI Newark office who declined to comment about the case.  When asked to confirm an earlier report on the Lakewood Scoop to see if the investigation was a case of mistaken identity, the agency seemed surprised by the question but refused to answer, suggesting it was not.

FBI press spokesperson Patty Hartman, of the Newark field office, declined to offer details of the investigation.

THURSDAY

On Thursday, the FBI returned to Lakewood, this time at an industrial park building located at 155 Oberlin in the morning hours.  It was at this operation that it was learned that the FBI was looking into large quantities of protective medical masks.   Agents loaded at least four box trucks full of medical masks.

At Governor Murphy’s daily COVID-19 press conference, Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged the FBI investigation in Lakewood.

“Because it looks like a law enforcement matter, we won’t have much to say,” Governor Phil Murphy said regarding the two days of FBI and Department of Justice raids against Lakewood businesses. “U.S. Attorney and FBI are both involved and I’m sure our Attorney General will also be involved.”

FRIDAY

FBI agents were once again spotted in Lakewood, this time at a residential home in the vicinity of New Hampshire Avenue and Oak Street to investigate a report of a residential homeowner with a large supply of medical equipment and masks in a garage.

To date, no visible arrests have been made and it appears the investigation is ongoing.   Neither the Lakewood Police, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, New Jersey Attorney General, or the FBI have publicly commented on the events transpiring in the township as of yet.

TOMS RIVER, NJ – A man was found dead on a bench in front of the Route 37 IHOP restaurant by a passerby and police are saying that foul play is not expected.   Police reported the body of Jaime Lee Kolbasowski, 28, of Berkeley Township was found around noon on Monday. The incident is being investigated by Toms River Police Detectives Patrick Jacques and Louis Santora, in conjunction with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.