VANCOUVER, Wash. (KPTV) – More than a dozen people from Oregon, Washington and California have been charged with stealing millions of dollars in federal food stamps.
The page-long indictment details how the defendants in the case used skimming devices to steal people’s information at checkout at stores. It’s a complex plan that spans Oregon, Washington, and California.
Those stolen benefits were then used to purchase large quantities of baby formula and other food items at Fred Meyer and Safeway stores, documents said. The items were then stacked at a storage facility in Vancouver, Washington, before being shipped to California for resale.
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Authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying three people who were caught on camera stealing thousands of dollars worth of alcohol from a liquor store.
Court documents detail 124,000 pounds of baby formula, energy drinks and other SNAP foods being transported from state to state in private and commercial vehicles.
The estimated total value of stolen property was $2.4 million.
Some of those arrested for the crime appeared in federal court on Wednesday. They are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
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