Seven people facing charges for alleged SNAP fraud in Dauphin County

Criminal charges have been filed against seven people for alleged fraudulent use of more than $775,000 in Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Benefits Program benefits. 

If convicted, they’d be responsible for repayment and restitution, according to a statement released Thursday by the state Office of the Inspector General. 

The operator of a Steelton convenience store in Dauphin County allegedly worked with three employees and three other people receiving SNAP benefits in what officials described as a “sophisticated operation” involving a “rogue terminal.”

Solanyi Ramos and her employees Wilson Javier Garcia-Mateo, Rafael Jermaine Powell and  Beatriz Rosario-Acosta would allegedly give cash to SNAP beneficiaries Dorothy A. Wilson, Shawn Van-Jeffrey McCoy and Shariah Denise Kiser equivalent to less than the benefits’ value so they could use the money to buy items ineligible for purchase under the program. 

Then, the store workers would process transactions for the full amount, with the difference being their profit, according to the statement. 

Court records indicate the people named in the case live in Steelton or Harrisburg except Garcia-Mateo, whose last known address is listed as Bronx.Each person named in the case faces between three and eight felony and misdemeanor charges, court records show, except Wilson (who faces one misdemeanor). 

Google Maps lists the Quik Stop Convenience Store in Steelton as permanently closed.

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star couldn’t reach any of the defendants for comment. 

No attorneys were listed for them on docket sheets for the case because they haven’t been taken into custody following arrest warrants being issued last week, according to the offices of the Dauphin County District Attorney and presiding Judge Kenneth Lenker. 

The Office of the Inspector General and Dauphin County Criminal Investigations Division didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking additional information.