11 Philly business owners stole funds from program for low-income women and children, prosecutors say
The store owners defrauded a food-assistance program out of tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said, and in one case more than $340,000.
Nearly a dozen Philadelphia-area small business owners stole almost $1 million in public funds by defrauding a program designed to support low-income mothers and their children, authorities said Thursday.
The businesses accused of fraud are small groceries or corner stores located throughout the city, according to the attorney general’s office, which announced Thursday that it had charged 11 people with theft by deception, forgery, and related crimes.
Prosecutors said the business owners submitted false claims for funds through the federal food assistance program WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The program and funds are administered by Pennsylvania’s health department.
Participating businesses are reimbursed through the state for purchasing food and infant formula, which is provided to recipients in stores using a benefits card. Prosecutors said the businesses abused their role as providers, submitting fraudulent claims for purchases — nearly 10,000 in all, they said.
Investigators reviewed thousands of receipts and audited paperwork submitted by the businesses between 2021 and 2025, finding they were “forged and fabricated,” they said.
The fraudulent claims in several cases exceeded $100,000, and almost all amounted to tens of thousands of dollars. Most of the claims were fulfilled, prosecutors said, resulting in the loss of $985,000 in public money.
The largest sum was paid to Felix Sosa, 35, of El Paisano Express Food in South Philadelphia, according to prosecutors. Sosa was reimbursed a total of $342,183 for such claims, they said, and was charged with theft and related crimes.
He was arrested Wednesday and is being held on $25,000 bail. No attorney for him was listed in court records.
Musa Barry, of Uncle Musa Grocery in Southwest Philadelphia, was charged with submitting fraudulent claims totaling $226,557. He was arrested Wednesday and has not hired an attorney.
Nearly all of the remaining business owners are accused of stealing sums in the tens of thousands.
Attorney General Dave Sunday decried the crimes in a statement Thursday, saying the business owners had “intentionally defrauded” state government for years.
Nine of the suspects have been taken into custody, Sunday said.
“This type of criminal activity doesn’t just victimize taxpayers by defrauding the government, it hurts the women and children who rely on the services programs like WIC provide,” he said.
Officials estimate about 175,000 Pennsylvanians are enrolled in the WIC program, about 36,000 of them in Philadelphia. It is available for low-income women who have given birth within six months and up to 12 months, and children under five.
The announcement of the criminal charges comes at a challenging time for the state’s Bureau of Women, Infants and Children.
The bureau’s director, Sally Zubairu-Cofield, resigned last week, citing “significant and ongoing workplace challenges” and barriers to leadership. She had led the office since 2022 and was appointed during the administration of former Gov. Tom Wolf.
She declined to comment Thursday.
Zubairu-Cofield wrote in her resignation letter that she had faced “multiple allegations and investigations that I understood were subsequently determined to be unfounded” during her tenure, according to Spotlight PA.
She did not elaborate on the nature of those allegations, according to the outlet.
