Pittsburgh 7-Eleven manager and employee charged with $550,000 SNAP fraud scheme

A Pittsburgh convenience store manager and employee have been charged with illegally exchanging more than $550,000 worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for cash.

Abdou Jallow, 55, and Alicia Mastrantoni, 39, both of Pittsburgh, were charged in connection with a nationwide fraud crackdown, the United States Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday. 

Prosecutors said Jallow, the manager of the 7-Eleven at 643 Liberty Avenue, and Mastrantoni, an employee at the same store, exchanged SNAP benefits for cash for customers, some of whom used the money to buy drugs. Authorities said more than half a million dollars in SNAP benefits were exploited dating back to 2020. 

According to federal court documents, Jallow and Mastrantoni created fake sales records to make it look like customers were buying groceries. Then they would allegedly give them cash, trading $60 in SNAP Benefits for $30 in cash or cigarettes, for example. In some cases, authorities said the money went to drugs. 

The store caught the attention of federal agents due to the alleged hundreds of individual SNAP transactions of over $100, and in some cases, more than $500. Investigators found it to be unusually high for a convenience store.

"How dare you? I'm mad as hell," said Sonya Webb, a frequent shopper at the store. 

Employees at the store told KDKA-TV that Jallow and Mastrantoni no longer work there. 

Webb says she wants to see more done. 

"This is my personal opinion: they need to be shut down," Webb said. "They need to shut down, period."

The charges are part of a nationwide push to crack down on health care fraud. The Department of Justice said the coordinated law enforcement action resulted in charges against 455 people, including doctors and other licensed medical professionals, and totaled over $6.5 billion in false claims. 

KDKA-TV reached out to 7-Eleven's corporate offices for comment but didn't hear back.