This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State and federal investigators on Wednesday served search warrants on a Salt Lake County merchant looking for evidence of fraud involving food stamps.
The name of the grocer was not immediately available. A spokesman for the Utah Attorney General's Office, Daniel Burton, described the suspected establishment as a "corner market," and said search warrants were served there and at the owner's home.
He said no arrests have been made.
Earlier statements from the AG's office indicated multiple grocers were suspected, but Utah State Auditor John Dougall on Thursday said he was only aware of one store that has been searched.
Dougall said the case began about two years ago when his office began examining data from the food stamp program and found stores where the cash amount and frequency of transactions exceeded norms.
"We were looking for behavior at stores that would not indicate your typical retail experience," Dougall said.
Then auditors discovered the state did not have authority to pursue vendors committing fraud, only food stamp recipients, Dougall said.
Personnel from the USDA Office of Inspector General are among the investigators, as are staff from the Utah Attorney General's Office, the state auditor and the Unified Police Department.
Burton said the investigation is not related to the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Last month, members of that group living along the Utah-Arizona line were indicted in federal court for fraud involving the food stamp program. The indictments allege church leaders ordered members to turn in their food stamp debit cards. The cards were either redeemed at FLDS-run stores and converted to cash or taken to other stores and the food was diverted to the FLDS storehouse.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this story as more information is available.
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