THE TREND OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS WORKING THE WELFARE SYSTEM TO COMMIT FRAUD CONTINUES…Why should you care? This is YOUR money, your tax dollars are being taken by immigrants who are scamming Americans out of millions!
We’ve reported extensively on why this has become such a problem with Muslim immigrants.
The Dahams are natives of Iraq. The family fled the country in the mid-2000s. They arrived in Portland in 2009 and opened the business two years later. The elder brother said that he broke the law in an effort to help Portland’s immigrant community.
American is a global magnet for people like these brothers who came to America to work the system. It’s easy money and they can just flee the country to avoid being caught. The punishment is always just a slap on the wrist. It ranges from a few months to a few years. Maybe if the punishment was more severe, we wouldn’t have so many case like the one below.
Via BDN:
The former owner of a Portland halal market who, with his brother, traded $1.4 million in federal food benefits for cash was sentenced Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court to three years in prison.
The federal prosecutor called the case “one of the largest, if not the largest, fraud cases involving [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits in [Maine].”
Ali Ratib Daham, 41, of Westbrook, who originally owned Ahram Halal Market, 630 Forest Ave., pleaded guilty in November to one count each of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, money laundering and theft of government funds.
A halal market under different ownership still operates at that address.
Daham remains free on bail until July 18, when he must report to a prison assigned by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
His brother, Abdulkareem Daham, 23, was sentenced Monday morning to two years in prison. He was convicted after a three-day jury trial in January of conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to court documents.
The older brother was ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution, while the younger was ordered to pay up to $955,000, according to their attorneys. The restitution order states that the men are equally responsible for payments but the younger brother’s payments are capped.
Ali Daham already has paid $80,000 toward restitution, according to court documents.
In addition to prison time, both men were sentenced to three years of supervised release.
In sentencing the older brother, U.S. District Court D. Brock Hornby, who himself is a naturalized citizen, said there were “no winners in a case like this.”
“By sentencing two brothers, I realize I’m creating great pain for this family,” he said. “I’m also creating great pain for the immigrant community, as many members have told me he was a great helper to them. Sadly, he was a helper to them by defrauding the government.”
