New Jersey Grocery Store Manager Pleads Guilty to $3.49 Million Food Stamp Fraud

The manager of a New Jersey grocery store pleaded guilty to a $3.49 million food stamp fraud scheme where he illegally traded benefits for cash.

Juan Perdomo, 60, of Newark, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud, including one count of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud, one count of buying things from the proceeds of SNAP fraud, and one count of helping prepare a materially false tax return, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

His son, Jose Perdomo, pleaded guilty on similar charges in April. Charges remain pending against the store’s owner, Maria Rodriguez, who also happens to be Juan’s wife and Jose’s mother.

Juan Perdomo ran M&R Supermarket — which was an authorized food stamp retailer — between October 2015 and September 2018, when prosecutors say most of the illegal exchanges occurred.

Law enforcement agents made 11 purchases at the market while Jose and Juan Perdomo exchanged SNAP benefits for cash, with Juan running the supermarket at the time.

Officials say Juan Perdomo made multiple bank account transactions from the M&R bank account over that period of time, NJ.com reported.

Juan Perdomo faces up to 33 years in prison at his sentencing hearing on January 8.