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A small convenience store is the focus of a new investigation into a $2 million food stamp fraud according to an affidavit unsealed on Wednesday.
Federal agents raided Euclid Market in Santa Ana after a series of undercover operations were conducted at the convenience store between July 2014 and September 2015. Johanna Garcia and Jose Garcia Olivo operate the small neighborhood market where for the past several years, they allegedly paid customers cash in exchange for charging the customer's EBT cards instead of selling them food.
The EBT card works in the same way a debit card does, but it's issued by the government for people to buy food.
Authorities say very little actual food was sold at the market and they say up to $2 million in government benefits may have ended up in Garcia and her father's pockets.
Federal agents also served a search warrant at a mobile home where the pair may have kept some documents according to a report from NBC4. But, it was unclear if anything was found.
The warrant served by federal agents alleges that the pair charged as much as $100,000 per month to the government, and in doing so, also failed to report their illicit income to the IRS (which is how they got Capone!).