Tipsheet

Florida Arrest Exposes $2.8M Food Aid Scam Built on Stolen Grocery Store Identities

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  May 06, 2026 6:00 PM

A man in Florida was arrested today for allegedly committing $2.8 million worth of food stamp fraud. 

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced the arrest of Abbas Rehman, who allegedly took $2.8 million meant for hungry, low-income Florida families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

The CID Bureau of Public Assistance Fraud discovered that Rehman allegedly submitted fraudulent merchant applications and manipulated bank deposit information by using the stolen business identities of four retailers authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Rehman was arrested by the Department of Financial Services' Criminal Investigations Division after engaging in multiple identity-fraud schemes to defraud the SNAP, a federal program that feeds about 41 million people, which is partially funded by the federal government but is administered by states. 

 “SNAP benefits are intended to help vulnerable Floridians when they need it most, not to be exploited for profits by criminals," Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said in a news release. "This criminal tried to steal from the hardworking families who rely on these benefits to put food on the table, but he quickly found out that Florida is not Minnesota and we do not let these crimes go without consequence. My office will continue to protect taxpayer funds and hold criminals who try to cheat the system accountable.” 

This resulted in a theft of $2,880,835.81 in SNAP funds. Abbas Rehman was arrested on April 30, 2026. He faces multiple felony charges, such as grand theft, organized scheme to defraud, and criminal use of personal identification information.


The arrest follows President Donald Trump's administration cracking down on healthcare and welfare fraud. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has said that criminals abuse the SNAP program.