Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
(Asian independent) Manjit Singh Bedi was a naturalized U.S. citizen who ran a grocery store in Tacoma, Washington. He used his position as a store owner to carry out a fraud scheme that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for low-income families.
The Scheme
Bedi’s store accepted SNAP benefits, a government program that helps people afford food using an EBT card. Instead of letting customers use their benefits to buy groceries, Bedi allegedly swiped their EBT cards and gave them cash instead. He then kept about half of that cash for himself. To cover his tracks, he ran these transactions through his store’s point-of-sale system as if they were normal food purchases.
This scheme ran from March 2024 to June 2025. In that time, investigators say Bedi defrauded the U.S. government of at least $600,000, money that was supposed to help feed low-income families.
Getting Caught and Fleeing
In April 2026, Bedi was indicted on charges of wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud. At first, he was allowed to stay free while his case moved through the courts. But he broke the terms of his release by crossing the border between the U.S. and Canada. This violation led a federal warrant to be issued for his arrest in May 2026.
Rather than face the charges, Bedi fled the country. He traveled to India, apparently believing he could avoid capture by leaving the U.S.
Capture in India
The FBI added Bedi to its “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list and offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest. Working together with Indian authorities, the FBI tracked him down. Punjab Police arrested him in the city of Jalandhar just hours after the announcement, ending nearly a year on the run.
His capture was the fifth arrest under the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters initiative, a program that has now caught fugitives responsible for over $2 billion in fraud combined. The FBI is currently working to bring Bedi back to the United States to face trial.
Conclusion
Bedi’s case shows how a small business can be misused to steal from a public program meant to help people in need. It also shows that fleeing overseas does not guarantee escape, since international cooperation between agencies like the FBI and foreign police allowed him to be found and arrested even on the other side of the world.
