A convenience store owner in Hollywood, Florida, faces federal charges after investigators traced hundreds of grocery orders paid for with food stamps to a single home. Prosecutors allege Al Amin, 52, and his associates bought more than $500,000 worth of benefits for cash over several years. Amin allegedly used some of the merchandise to stock his own shelves and sold additional merchandise to other shopkeepers in the area.
The business at the center of the investigation was Kwik Stop 72 in Broward County. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, provides eligible households with a card they can use to pay for groceries. According to investigators, Amin offered recipients cash equal to roughly half the available balance on their cards. The buyers could then spend the full amount at retailers that accepted the benefits.
One retailer’s order history gave investigators a way to follow the purchases beyond the checkout. From October 2023 through February 2025, the retailer recorded approximately 613 orders connected to a Hollywood residential address associated with Amin. The orders drew on approximately 448 benefit cards issued by various states and totaled about $442,682.97. Among the products bound for the address were cases of Monster, Red Bull and Celsius energy drinks.
Townhall reported that Amin and his alleged associates bought their merchandise in bulk. The store itself also turned up in the affidavit filed with the federal criminal complaint in United States v. Al Amin, case number 26-mj-06617. Investigators tied a separate set of 51 orders to Kwik Stop 72. Those purchases totaled approximately $15,091.56 and involved 47 benefit cards.
A private investigator working undercover under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture approached Amin on November 15, 2024. According to the affidavit, the investigator asked if he wanted to buy a benefit card. Amin allegedly agreed and told the investigator what he usually paid. The investigator visited Kwik Stop 72 about 20 times between November 13, 2024, and February 26, 2025, to check whether the store and its associates were complying with program rules.
On December 20, 2024, investigators documented one shopping trip at a retailer in nearby Miramar. They identified Amin as the man making a $1,573.44 purchase of energy drinks and boxes of candy with a benefit card supplied by the undercover investigator. A photograph the Justice Department released, which CBS Miami published, shows a man standing beside a cart piled with cases of Red Bull and Monster.
Watch CBS Miami’s report on the charges here:
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The affidavit also gives a dollar-by-dollar accounting of the undercover exchanges, which continued through June 2025 and involved Amin and two associates. Across those transactions, the investigator supplied cards loaded with approximately $64,388.46 in food benefits. The cash that came back totaled $29,474. The criminal complaint, filed October 28, 2026, describes alleged activity extending from roughly October 2023 through March 2026.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced the charges on October 30, 2026. Homeland Security Investigations in Miami and the Agriculture Department’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph A. Cooley is prosecuting Amin on two conspiracy counts. If convicted, Amin faces up to five years in federal prison on the SNAP conspiracy count and up to 20 years on the wire fraud conspiracy count.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.