Chicago cop among several Chicago-area convenience store owners charged with defrauding WIC program

Several Chicago-area convenience store owners, including a Chicago police officer, have been charged with scheming to defraud a low-income food program for women and children, authorities announced Friday.

Hassan Abdellatif, also known as "Eric," 33, of Chicago, owner of El Milagro Mini Market and Harding Grocery in Chicago, Hamdan Hamdan, also known as "Tony," 32, of Chicago, owner of La Villita Food Market in Chicago, Ehab Khraiwish, 27, of Tinley Park, owner of Mercado La Estrella in Elgin, Waleed Khrawish, also known as "Wally," 34, of Melrose Park, who worked at a convenience store in Melrose Park, Alaa Hamdan, 35, of Chicago, who worked at Supermercado El Grande in Addison, Ersely Arita-Mejia, 39, of Arlington Heights, who worked at Star Mini Market in Mt. Prospect, Fortino Hernandez, 38, of Addison, who worked at Supermercado El Grande in Addison, Jehad Khrawish, 24, of Chicago, who worked at a convenience store in Melrose Park and Marisol Zavala, 29, of McHenry, who worked at a convenience store in Elgin have all been charged with fraud.

Abdellatif is also charged with two tax offenses for allegedly willfully failing to file two years of corporate tax returns for Harding Grocery.

Adbellatif is a member of the Chicago Police Department. According to CPD, he has been relieved of his police powers.

According to a 16-count indictment, from 2010 to 2019, store owners and several workers allegedly schemed to fraudulently redeem checks from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

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The program is federally funded and designed to provide a nutritious diet to moderate and low-income infants, children up to five years of age and pregnant, breastfeeding and post-partum women, authorities said.

The defendants allegedly allowed customers to provide their WIC checks as payment for ineligible items at the stores, often at inflated prices, authorities said.

Most of the nine stores identified in the indictment redeemed millions of dollars in WIC checks, authorities said. 

Most of the defendants made their initial federal court appearances on Wednesday in Chicago.