title: MAN ROBS TAXPAYERS OF $1.4 Million In Food Stamp Scam…Using Fish!
text: Feldman operates Upstate Fish, a market at 826 Joseph Ave. His father, Jack, a Holocaust survivor, opened the store under the name Jack s Modern Fish Market in 1954 and is a well-known figure in the community. A year ago, the elder Feldman was among a number of Holocaust survivors who had Hanukkah dinner with the Obamas and the president of Israel at the White House.Irving Feldman was accused of two different schemes, one netting more than $1.2 million and the other more than $200,000.The more lucrative scheme involved unlawfully buying $1,227,063 worth of food stamps from willing recipients for less than half their face value, according to the news release. The recipients received cash, and Feldman was able to reap a considerable profit by redeeming the food stamps with the federal government for their full value. This fish market owner was caught running a food stamp fraud scheme that was truly breathtaking in scale,  state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott said.Feldman also admitted to a second scheme in which he induced food stamp recipients to use their benefit cards to buy fish from other retail markets, then sell the fish to him at steeply discounted prices. The recipients pocketed cash, and Feldman got inventory he could sell at full value.The value of that scheme was about $202,000, the official statement said.Read more: DandC