Grocery store owner gets prison term for food stamp scheme

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey grocery store owner who stole more than $1.2 million through a food stamp scheme has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Kaher Abdullah also must serve three years of supervised release under the sentence imposed Monday. The 58-year-old Philadelphia man had pleaded guilty in May to theft of government funds.

Prosecutors say Abdullah admitted he and some employees at his small grocery store in Camden illegally exchanged food stamp benefits for cash. The money received through these transactions was then moved from the store's bank account to another account, which Abdullah used to pay personal expenses.

Prosecutors say the scheme ran from November 2011 through October 2014. Authorities have said they discovered the scheme after realizing the store's food stamp reimbursement substantially exceeded estimates for businesses of similar size.