Latino store owners on alert after EBT card raid

LYNN – Several Latino store owners say they’re being cautious about what they sell to customers using electronic food-stamp cards after last week’s welfare fraud raid that implicated eight Lynn residents, including a Haitian business owner.The rules regarding what a customer can buy with federal food stamps are tricky to begin with, said Roberto Jimenez, one of the owners of Jimenez Market on Union Street.Food-stamp recipients can buy produce, breads and cereals, poultry and fish and dairy products with their cards. They cannot buy junk food, non-food items, alcohol, food that can be eaten in the store or hot foods such as coffee, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website .Not all customers abide by or even understand those rules, said Jimenez, who said he constantly has to differentiate between the needs and intentions of a food-stamp customer using the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.Jimenez said people often ask him if they can purchase “paseteles,” or traditional Latin sweet bread, with their cards. He said he tells them no so he doesn’t risk breaking the law by selling them something that could be classified as junk food.”If I see they need it, I’ll just give it to them for free,” he said.The Latino business community in Lynn seems to be on alert after it surfaced that one of those arrested related link here was a Haitian restaurant owner, according to Frances Martinez, head of the North Shore Latino Business Assocation.Local police arrested eight Lynn store clerks last week, including Midlher Cherubin, who owns JM Minimart and Paradise Restaurant, in Lynn, and charged them with conducting cash-for-cocaine transactions with people using their electronic food-stamp cards.Martinez urged Latino business owners in a meeting last week to keep a close eye on their transactions.”Just the way the economy is now, and seeing other people doing this or getting away with it, they might think they can get away with it,” she said after the meeting.At stake is the community’s perception of Latino businesses, she said.”Everyone thinks all Latinos are working illegally in the country, and that’s not the case,” she said.For Bernice Cabreja, owner of Contreras Grocery on Central Avenue, conducting her business with integrity prevents any negative stereotypes or legal troubles, she said.The grocery store, just a block away from Midler’s JM Minimart, has been accepting food-stamp cards for the past 16 years without a problem, she said.”If you do things right, then there’s nothing to worry about,” she said.William Sanchez, co-owner of Casa Antigua restaurant, agreed. Although food-stamp cards can’t be used at restaurants, he said he makes sure his employee payroll is up to date and all his transactions are transparent.One bad choice, he said, can ruin a business and community.”Before we act, we say, ?What’s going to be the consequences?'” he said from behind his bar. “Why get headaches you can avoid?”Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].