A Westlake man is facing multiple federal charges after he allegedly, among other things, illegally accepted food stamps at several area gas stations and ran an illegal slaughterhouse.
According to a six-count indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office, 59-year-old Amin M. Salem secretly owned several gas stations in the Cleveland area (run by his son Mohamed, who is also charged) and accepted food stamps at those stations. He was prohibited from doing so by law due to prior convictions of food stamp fraud and other crimes, and according to authorities, more than $2.7 million in fraudulent food stamp transactions took place between 2010 and 2016.
In addition, it is alleged that Amin Salem slaughtered lambs on his Stang Road farm property without a permit in 2015 and 2016 before selling the meat, which had not been properly inspected. He is also accused of illegally dumping the animals' blood and fluids into Engle Ditch, which flows into the Black River before reaching Lake Erie.
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman issued the following statement:
"Amin Salem is accused of engaging in a diverse array of crimes, from food stamp fraud to illegally slaughtering lambs and goats to illegally having an assault rifle and shotgun, just to name a few. He will now be held accountable for years of disregarding our nation’s laws and flouting the rules to enrich himself."
Mohamed Salem, 32, is also accused of illegally selling the meat at the gas stations with the profits diverted into gas station accounts. A third man, 55-year-old Zahran al-Qadan, is also charged with conspiracy to launder money after being caught up in the operation.
FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Hughes said:
"This father and son duo engaged in various illegalities to include stealing from every taxpaying citizen by engaging in food stamp fraud, a program designed to help those in need. Salem put others at risk by selling unsanitary, unregulated food. The FBI will continue to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to ensure fraudsters like these are held accountable."
