As if Food Stamp use wasn’t out of control enough…it’s becoming more and more common to hear of them being used in strip clubs and bars.
Wasteful government spending is one thing but using YOUR hard-earned money to buy booze, sex and, even drugs….
A bar in Ohio has just been stripped (no pun intended) of its liquor license after undercover government officials were offered lap dances and drugs in exchange for food stamps. This is the second bar in Ohio to be busted for doing this. Is this just the tip of the iceberg?
During a five-month investigation, agents exchanged more than $2,400 in food stamps for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine — and lap dances at Sharkey’s Bar.
Criminal charges were filed against employees and patrons of Sharkey’s, including drug and food stamp trafficking and illegal sexual activity, WLWT reported.
The trend of food stamps for drugs has skyrocketed.
Another bar in Ohio was recently shuttered due to drugs and sex being exchanged for food stamps:
“The undercover agents conducted controlled drug buys at The Harem from a number of the defendants and observed the trading of food stamps and the cards used to obtain food stamps in exchange for sex acts, for lap dances and even illegal drugs,” Heck said. “The undercover agents were propositioned for sex and observed other propositions and proposition transactions. In short, The Harem was being used basically as a sex and drug den.”
A recent case in Tennessee caught our attention:
A Tennessee county just became one of so many that has experienced food stamp fraud. This case isn’t as big as some of the others we’ve reported on but it’s as serious because drugs were swapped for EBT cards. The big question is why this is still going on…Can the government stop the rampant fraud or is this an impossible mission?
It makes the “food box” idea more appealing. Instead of giving needy people a SNAP debit card, they would get a food box delivered to their door. It’s hard to commit food stamp fraud this way. As it is, fraud is rampant and people use their SNAP card for everything BUT food. It’s really just free money that’s your money.
We think cracking down needs to be a combination of getting people off of food stamps and catching the fraudsters who’re profiting off of them. The crackdown is long overdue!
TIPTON COUNTY EBT FRAUD – BUYING DRUGS WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS:
FOX 13 Memphis reports:
The Tipton County Sheriff’s Office arrested seven people recently who were using their government benefits to buy drugs.
It started with a drug investigation, but deputies quickly discovered another crime, EBT fraud.
People were using their government assistance to buy pills, meth, and weed, according to detectives.
Seven people are now without food stamps now after being charged with EBT fraud.
“One of the guys would take the EBT card in lieu of drug payments,” said Tipton County Sheriff J.T. ‘Pancho’ Chumley.
“This set of suspects represents a population across the country,” said Chief Bill Daugherty.
One man charged is Jerry Vandiver.
The sheriff’s office said Vandiver, who has been arrested ten times before, was taking cards as drug payments.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office busted a meat market in 2017 for over one million dollars worth of food stamp fraud.
“We probably haven’t even scraped the tip of the iceberg,” said Chief Daugherty.
This might seem like a drop in the bucket but our previous reports on Food Stamp fraud will blow your mind. Reports of millions and millions of dollars in fraud are reported every year. Time to end this sham and think of some other solution.
