Management personnel from two Salt Lake stores were indicted on charges of food stamp fraud this week as a result of the federal government's sting operation.
Chong Nam, co-owner of the Broadway Deli & Bandaloops Coffee, 172 W. 300 South; and Kil Kim, manager of the Eighth Street Market, 801 S. 800 East, were among seven people indicted this week on charges of illegally possessing food stamps.Nam and Kim entered not-guilty pleas along with the five others arrested, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Diamond.
Stores authorized to redeem food stamps can lose that privilege if store personnel deal in the food stamp black market, said U.S. Attorney David Jordan.
However, state and federal officials declined to say whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture will seek to have the stores' redemption privileges revoked.
Federal undercover agents for the Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a sting operation in the Salt Lake area in November after receiving numerous complaints of food stamp fraud here.