Feds: Hollywood Store Owner Bought $500,000 in Food Stamps at Half Price to Stock His Store
A federal complaint says Al Amin bought EBT cards for about half their value in cash, then used other people's food benefits to buy bulk merchandise for resale.
Here Are the Receipts
Sources attached — check them yourself
| Document | Hollywood Store Owner Charged in $500,000 SNAP Benefits Fraud Scheme |
| Agency | U.S. Attorney's Office — Southern District of Florida (U.S. Department of Justice) |
| Document date | 2026-10-30T16:00:00.000Z |
| Case / doc no. | Case 26-mj-06617 |
| Page / section | Full release |
| Original source | https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/hollywood-store-owner-charged-500000-snap-benefits-fraud-scheme |
| Retrieved | 2026-11-01T12:55:35.602309Z |
What Happened
A Hollywood convenience store owner has been charged in connection with a years-long scheme to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by purchasing more than $500,000 for cash and using the benefits to buy merchandise for resale, the U. S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced on October 30, 2026.
According to court records cited in the release, Al Amin, 52, of Hollywood, conspired with others to purchase Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards from SNAP recipients for approximately half their available benefit amounts in cash. Amin and his co-conspirators then allegedly used the fraudulently obtained cards to purchase bulk merchandise from various retailers. Amin allegedly used the merchandise to stock his convenience store and sold additional merchandise to other store owners in the area.
What the Records Show
The U. S. Attorney's Office release (the receipt linked below) records the charges: conspiracy to obtain unauthorized use, transfer, acquisition, or possession of benefits, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
If convicted, Amin faces up to five years in federal prison on the SNAP conspiracy charge and up to 20 years on the wire fraud conspiracy count. The case is being investigated by HSI Miami and the USDA Office of Inspector General, with assistance from U. S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations, and is prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Joseph A.
Cooley. The announcement was made by U. S.
Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones, HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa, and USDA Inspector General John Walk.
The case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division.
What Remains Unconfirmed
- A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
- The U.S. Attorney's release does not name the convenience store. The fuller record is the federal complaint, case 26-mj-06617, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
- The Dirt will publish any response from Amin or the business in full.
Case Timeline
- 2026-10-30:
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