WA Business Owner Jailed for ‘Most Elaborate’ Food Stamp Scam Ever

Officials at the Department of Social and Health Services say it's the most elaborate EBT scam they've ever seen, so far.

Stemming from an investigation that began in 2014, former Federal Way business owner John Comoza, is now facing both fines and a year in jail for scamming nearly $10,000 from unsuspecting EBT, or food stamp, customers.

Officials say Comoza was able to scam the money by generating cardholders account numbers, then charging them for goods and services, making it look like they had purchased items from his store. He never met the people, and was never in possession of their cards! The scam affected at least 23 accounts, and netted him nearly $9.600.

Officials became aware of the scam when these people went to use their cards, and found most of their accounts had been drained, some more than once. DSHS and other officials began to trace the withdrawals, and eventually were led to Comoza's former business, John's Meats and Seafood in Federal Way.

After the lengthy investigation, the charges were finally filed, and now Comoza will be spending time in jail, and pay a lot of fines.