Feds say Flo stole dough
IF YOU’RE A welfare recipient in Darby Borough, Aunty Florence’s West African Food Market was the place to go — not for the fruits and veggies, but to convert food stamps into cash. That’s what U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger is alleging in federal charges filed Thursday against Florence Kingsley, a/k/a Florence Kingsley Mamulu, the store owner in the Delaware County borough bordering Southwest Philadelphia.
IF YOU'RE A welfare recipient in Darby Borough, Aunty Florence's West African Food Market was the place to go — not for the fruits and veggies, but to convert food stamps into cash.
That's what U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger is alleging in federal charges filed Thursday against Florence Kingsley, a/k/a Florence Kingsley Mamulu, the store owner in the Delaware County borough bordering Southwest Philadelphia.
The feds say Kingsley, 59, whose market had a "small and limited selection of food products," was doling out cash and keeping a healthy cut for herself, processing the fraudulent transactions through the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) terminal in her store.
For example, a customer would give her $200 in food-stamp benefits and she'd return $120 in cash and keep $80, the charges say.
Kingsley, who allegedly defrauded the government of nearly $300,000, faces up to five years in prison, if convicted. n
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