Men plead guilty to fraud,wire transfer

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Two brothers from Somalia who were accused of $400,000 in food stamp fraud and of illegally transferring money overseas from their western Michigan store pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges, prosecutors said.

Mohamed and Omar Sufi, owners of the Halal Depot store in Grand Rapids, redeemed electronic food stamps for cash and nonfood items, taking 30 percent commissions, the government said. The men were accused of taking up to 50 percent from benefits under the Women, Infants and Children programs.

Prosecutors said the brothers wired thousands of dollars through an unlicensed money transfer business known as a "hawala." The money went to the Middle East and Africa, and the men charged a commission of 6 percent to 7 percent, prosecutors said.

The brothers deliberately kept transactions below $10,000 so that financial institutions would not file currency transactions reports to the Internal Revenue Service, the men admitted in their plea agreement.

Both men pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids to conspiracy, food-stamp fraud and operating an unlicensed money transfer business, the government said. It said Omar Sufi also pleaded guilty to three charges of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements.

U.S. District Judge Janet Neff will sentence the men. No date has been set.

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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press