Shakopee Man Pleads Guilty to Food Stamp Fraud

A Shakopee man has pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal food stamp program out of $29,816 during a year-and-a-half-long scam.

Chin Son Kim, 47, would wait near a St. Paul charity facility and persuade food stamp recipients into giving him their EBT cards. 

Then he'd take their cards to a cooperating local market, which would ring up the cards as if Kim had purchased legitimate items. Kim would then be given cash or store credit—often around $200 in value—which he would split evenly with the food stamp recipients.

Kim operated his scam from November 2010 to July 2012.

He will be sentenced to up to five years in federal prison at a future hearing.