Punjab Police have arrested Manjit Singh Bedi in Jalandhar after the Indian-origin US citizen was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list over an alleged $600,000 fraud involving the US government’s food assistance programme.
Bedi, who originally hails from Jalandhar district, was allegedly running a grocery store in Tacoma, Washington, where investigators say he misused the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a scheme that provides food assistance to eligible low-income Americans.
According to the FBI allegations, Bedi’s grocery store, Asian Grocery Store, was used to convert SNAP benefits into cash. Beneficiaries would allegedly give Bedi their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and PINs. Instead of using the benefits to buy eligible food, Bedi allegedly processed transactions through the store’s point-of-sale terminal as though groceries had been purchased.
The beneficiaries would then receive part of the amount in cash, while Bedi allegedly kept the remaining portion. Prosecutors have alleged that he typically made a profit of about 50 cents for every dollar in SNAP benefits redeemed through the scheme.
For example, a customer with $200 in SNAP benefits could allegedly hand over the EBT card to Bedi and receive $100 in cash. The remaining $100 would allegedly be retained by Bedi. The transactions, however, appeared to the SNAP system as legitimate purchases of food.
The alleged scheme is said to have operated from March 2024 to June 2025 in Pierce County, Washington. According to the FBI, the fraudulent transactions caused the SNAP programme to make payments to Bedi’s store for food that was allegedly never purchased.
The case also involves allegations of wire fraud because the SNAP transactions triggered electronic payments to the grocery store’s bank account. Prosecutors allege that the electronic communications involved in processing the payments travelled across state lines.
The FBI estimates that the alleged scheme resulted in at least $600,000 in losses to the US government.
Bedi was indicted in the US in April 2026 on charges related to wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud. He was initially allowed to remain outside custody while the case proceeded, but was reportedly ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Washington state.
US authorities allege that Bedi later violated those conditions by leaving the United States. According to the FBI, he travelled through Canada before eventually reaching India. A federal arrest warrant was issued against him on May 21, 2026, after he was accused of violating the conditions imposed in his case.
The FBI subsequently placed Bedi on its Most Wanted Fraudsters list and offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information that could lead to his arrest and conviction.
His arrest in India came after Jalandhar Police began investigating a separate fraud case registered at a city police station on August 16, 2026. Police Commissioner Satinder Singh said officers received specific information about Bedi and formed a special team to locate him.
The team eventually intercepted Bedi while he was travelling and arrested him.
Importantly, the Punjab case is separate from the fraud allegations in the United States. Jalandhar Police have booked Bedi under the Punjab Travel Professionals’ Regulation Act as well as provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to cheating and criminal breach of trust. Investigators are now examining his alleged activities in India.
The arrest has brought together two separate investigations involving the same accused — one in the US over an alleged scheme to convert SNAP food benefits into cash, and another in Punjab that led local police to locate and arrest him.
Further investigation is underway to determine the full extent of Bedi’s alleged fraud and activities in India. The US charges remain allegations unless and until established in court.
