With engineering degrees from top universities, Ali Jaber, 52, and his 42-year-old brother, Hadi, could have become role models for fellow immigrants, prosecutor Carolyn Bell told U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks. Instead, they used their store, Fajita’s Meat & Fish on 10th Avenue North, to defraud the federal government.
Two Palm Beach County brothers who funneled millions in federal food stamp money back to their native Lebanon were sentenced to nearly six years in prison Thursday for scamming the program that is intended to feed the poor.
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Even their attorneys acknowledged that the two should have known better than to get involved in the scam. Instead of charging customers’ debit-style food stamp cards for groceries, the brothers gave the customers cash. They charged customers as much as 50 percent commission for the service and were reimbursed by the government for the bogus transactions.
“He should have known better at his age and with his education,” said attorney Fred Haddad, who represents Ali Jaber, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
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