Lockport Man Defrauded $8.3M In SNAP, WIC Benefits: U.S. Attorney

LOCKPORT, IL — A Lockport man, who owned a Chicago grocery store, has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for fraudulently redeeming millions of dollars in benefits under SNAP and WIC, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.

Yousef Abu Alhawa, 50, of Lockport, owned a grocery store in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the southwest side, the Attorney's Office said.

From 2011 to 2019, Alhawa fraudulently redeemed or caused to redeem SNAP and WIC benefits for non-eligible items or cash, and redeemed SNAP and WIC benefits on behalf of stores ineligible to participate in SNAP and WIC, according to a news release. Alhawa admitted in a plea agreement with the government that he caused a loss to those programs of more than $8.3 million.

Alhawa pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and tax charges. The tax offenses pertained to Alhawa’s filing of false income tax returns for the calendar years 2015 to 2017. The tax offenses caused a federal and state tax loss of more than $610,000, the Attorney's Office said.

U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the 42-month prison sentence and ordered Alhawa to pay $8.9 million in restitution to the U.S. Treasury, IRS and State of Illinois.

“[The] defendant’s offense conduct was serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mower argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “SNAP is the nation’s largest federally funded nutrition assistance program. His actions not only deprived those programs of vital financial resources that could otherwise have been made available to deserving recipients, but also risked sowing general disfavor and distrust of government benefit systems.”