A Trump administration fraud task force has uncovered nearly $42 million in food stamp funds that authorities say were diverted from needy families into criminal schemes and lavish personal spending.

Vice President JD Vance joined Justice and Agriculture Department officials in Cincinnati on Wednesday to spotlight cases involving more than 40 defendants, as reported by The New York Post.

Attorney General Todd Blanche put the scale in blunt terms. “Two-hundred twenty thousand Americans could’ve eaten for the entire month of October if it were not for this $42 million in fraud,” he said.

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Blanche said men and women had been indicted in 13 districts during the previous seven weeks and vowed the effort would continue. The USDA inspector general said the programs were raided “to line the pockets of fraudsters and bankroll other criminal activities like guns and drugs that make American communities less safe.”

Among the more colorful defendants is Mercedes New, an Atlanta Instagram influencer, rapper and apparent adult content creator who performs under the name Shawty Dred. New has more than 2 million followers and has boasted about his jewelry and Rolls-Royce vehicles.

New was previously arrested in 2022 for urinating from his apartment balcony while completely naked. “I’m famous! I’m on TV, bruh,” he reportedly told officers during the arrest, according to Channel 2 Action News.

Prosecutors have now indicted New on more than 40 counts involving food stamp fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. Authorities accuse him of taking more than $4 million in benefits through hundreds of fraudulent debit cards and making Shawty Dred LLC a SNAP retailer between 2025 and 2026.

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Georgia police arrested New outside a Walmart last November for selling the debit cards to people passing by. In a 2021 interview with Hip Hop Since 1987, he said his company was generating enough cash that he planned “to open a total of three restaurants and one strip club in Atlanta, Georgia under my brands.”

Asked during that interview about his future ambitions, New answered “World domination lol” and “Having $100 million in my bank account.” That swagger received a brutal reality check when federal authorities began laying out their case.

“SNAP exists to help hungry children eat; it does not exist to provide private jets to a guy like Shawty Dred,” Vance said after showing a social media video in which New boasted about being “out here with a private jet, you broke motherf–ker.”

Vance said New called almost 9,000 times and collected benefits spread across 350 accounts. He added that social media videos helped investigators connect New’s alleged income with spending on private jet seats and other purchases.

One social media post showed the rapper burning a $1 bill while displaying stacks of $20 bills. New was arrested last Tuesday in Las Vegas, a rather fitting turn after authorities accused him of treating food assistance like his personal cash machine.

That same day, Jorag Yaseen and Rami Kanaan were indicted in Ohio federal court for allegedly stealing almost $30 million through fake electronic benefit transfer transactions at their Chicago-based food retail stores.

Prosecutors said the grocers allowed accomplices to use stolen account information from thousands of Ohio SNAP participants at their Illinois stores.

Other defendants charged in September were accused of selling EBT cards, filing fake crop insurance claims for up to $1.7 million and using $2.4 million in fraudulently obtained food stamps to purchase more than 124,000 pounds of baby formula. Authorities said the formula was then sold for a profit on the black market.

Alleged fraudsters from Yemen who are living in Ohio, Michigan, and New York were also charged with stealing $1 million in food stamp benefits. Authorities said those benefits were used to pay for marijuana or exchanged for cash.

Dominican Republic national Fernandez Guzman allegedly stole more than $22,000 in SNAP benefits, more than $98,000 in MassHealth benefits and more than $45,500 in Section 8 housing benefits. He was charged with using fake state identification cards and driver’s licenses in three states.

“He is suspected to be unlawfully in the United States,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said. “This is one of the many cases charged this year involving suspected illegal aliens stealing the identities of Americans to then steal from America.”

Blanche said the schemes drained taxpayer money and deprived struggling Americans of benefits they needed. He noted that one victim had to take out a loan to feed her children after fraudsters depleted the funds on her debit card.

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