Tag: ohio

Shocking EBT Fraud Schemes Exposed in Ohio’s Somali Community

An independent journalist in Ohio has uncovered elaborate fraud schemes allegedly involving Somali immigrants exploiting the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system.

The investigation, detailed in a video that has gone viral on social media, highlights how some individuals are using welfare benefits to subsidize their businesses while evading taxes.

The video, posted on X by @WallStreetApes, shows the journalist touring Columbus neighborhoods and explaining the mechanics of the scheme.

He describes how Somali-owned restaurants are often attached to grocery stores, allowing owners to use EBT cards to purchase bulk ingredients for their eateries.

“Every single Somali restaurant has a grocery store right next door or within eye shot of the restaurant,” the journalist states. “They can just order everything they need to their grocery store that’s right next or attached to the restaurant that they also own and never have to fill a single cart.”

According to the investigator, these grocery stores are likely to report significant losses annually, which are used as tax write-offs, while the restaurants operate on cash, funneling the government-funded goods into profitable ventures.

The journalist also points out the role of polygamous marriages in the community, noting that multiple wives can claim benefits as single mothers, further maximizing welfare payouts.

“If you have two or three wives that don’t claim, these women can go work at Wal-Mart full time for $15 an hour and still qualify for food stamps as long as they have a couple kids,” he explains.

The journalist references Minnesota, where 88% of the Somali community is reportedly on social services, suggesting the fraud in Columbus could be equally pervasive.

This follow-up investigation builds on an earlier report by Columbus resident Nakia Deon, who first brought attention to similar scams in a video shared on X.

Deon described Somali men owning businesses like markets, with their wives using EBT cards exclusively at those stores, leading to massive fraud through hidden polygamous marriages and money laundering.

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Top Democrats in Columbus, Ohio, Warn Illegal Aliens That ICE Is in Town

The far-left Democrats who run Columbus, Ohio, are attempting to protect illegal aliens from arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mayor Andrew Ginther and homosexual council President Shannon Hardin warned city dwellers, including the illegals, that ICE is on the prowl in the city, where almost 20 percent of residents are foreign-born.

The pair of subversives sounded the anti-ICE alarm bells likely because the agency recently arrested a number of illegal-alien thugs and goons — the worst of the worst.

That, apparently, might “scare” the “law-abiding” illegal aliens.

Last week, The Columbus Dispatch reported, Ginther and city officials spoke at the usual news conference to prattle about diversity and “who we are”:

“While some (agents) say they’re here to keep us safe, the fact is we’re already safe,” Ginther said as he rattled off several statistics highlighting a decrease in homicides, shootings, felonious assaults and burglaries.

“These statistics are important because it shows our city is the safest it’s been in years,” Ginther said. He also said immigration enforcement could “undermine the hard-earned trust” the city and police have been working to rebuild. …

Ginther pleaded with concerned citizens who are sharing reports, photos and videos of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to make sure they are sharing accurate information. Unverified photos and videos can lead to increased anxiety and confusion, he said. “Our city will not be a vehicle for fear,” Ginther said.

Maybe, but Ginther’s roseate view of the city’s crime rate ignores data that show Columbus is substantially more dangerous that Ohio as a whole, and also more dangerous than the United States.

A few days ago, Ginther posted a video message to X.

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Female serial killer admits to fatally drugging, robbing men she met for sex

A female serial killer and mom has pleaded guilty to drugging four men with fentanyl and robbing them after meeting them at hotels for sex.

Rebecca Auborn, 36, of Columbus, Ohio, admitted to the grisly string of fatal drug overdoses at a hearing on Friday.

Her murderous rampage was only brought to an end after one of her victims survived the overdose and went to the police, according to court records seen by the Columbus Dispatch.

Auborn killed her four victims — Joseph Crumpler, 30; Robert Snoke, 54; Wayne Akin, 64; and Guy Renda, 42 — by dosing them with narcotics, including the extremely potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, after luring them to hotels for sex.

She told detectives in one case she mixed fentanyl in a man’s crack pipe during their encounter, court records show.

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Ohio Governor Signs Bill To Recriminalize Some Marijuana Activity, Vetoing Provision To Allow THC Drinks For A Year

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed a bill into law Friday that bans intoxicating hemp products and makes various changes to the state’s voter-passed marijuana law, including adding crimes such as making it illegal to bring legally purchased marijuana from another state back to Ohio.

DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 56, which will take effect in 90 days. He has been urging Ohio lawmakers to do something about intoxicating hemp products for the past nearly two years.

Ohio’s bill complies with recent federal changes by banning intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary.

In November, Congress voted to ban products that contain 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container earlier this month when they voted to reopen the government.

Those who work in the intoxicating hemp industry are worried this will put thousands of people out of business.

DeWine line-item-vetoed the THC-infused beverage provision in the bill that would have allowed five milligram THC beverages to be manufactured, distributed, and sold in Ohio until December 31, 2026.

“My veto means that they cannot be sold,” DeWine said during a Friday press conference. “The simplest thing, frankly, to do is to stop it right now instead of going until the date in November set by federal law.”

DeWine said he does not think THC beverages are a good idea.

“I think they create extra problems,” DeWine said.

Ohio S.B. 56 had a provision that said if the federal government legalizes THC beverages, Ohio will consider “a more robust regulatory framework of these products,” according to the bill’s language.

“We got to this point because of poorly drafted federal legislation and people taking advantage of it,” Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said.

“So speculating about what the federal government may do in the future and what we may do as a result, I think, adds to the same problem that has already been created.”

On the marijuana side, the bill would reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90 percent down to a maximum of 70 percent, cap THC levels in adult-use flower to 35 percent, and prohibit smoking in most public places.

Part of the probable cause portions were removed from the bill, but some of it still remains.

The bill prohibits possessing marijuana in anything outside of its original packaging and criminalizes bringing legal marijuana from another state back to Ohio. It also requires drivers to store marijuana in the trunk of their car while driving.

Ohio S.B. 56 would give 36 percent of adult-use marijuana sale revenue to municipalities and townships that have recreational marijuana dispensaries.

The bill also maintains the 10 percent tax rate on recreational marijuana and keeps home grow the same at six plants per adult and 12 per residence. It also places a cap on 400 marijuana dispensaries in the state.

Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated law to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 with 57 percent of the vote. Sales started in August 2024 and exceeded $702.5 million in the first year.

Ohio lawmakers can change the law since it passed as a citizen initiative not a constitutional amendment, something they have been trying to do since late 2023.

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Bill On Ohio Governor’s Desk Will Put Hemp Companies Out Of Business, Owners Say

Ohioans in the intoxicating hemp industry fear a bill heading to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) desk will put them out of business.

Ohio Senate Bill 56 is on its way to DeWine after Ohio Senate Republicans passed the bill Tuesday. The Ohio House passed the bill last month after it went to conference committee.

Ohio’s bill complies with recent federal changes by banning intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary. If DeWine signs the bill into law before the new year, the ban could take effect as soon as March.

“This bill is going to put businesses like me and families like me out of business,” said Ahmad Khalil, one of the owners of Hippie Hut Smoke Shop, with locations in Ohio and Washington.

“Overnight, we’re going to see tens of thousands of people directly impacted, which will ripple effect into 50,000 of families that are also dependent on this person.”

Khalil has been in the hemp industry for nine years.

“This was my American dream, so to see it get taken away from you, kind of hurts,” he said.

Jason Friedman, owner of Ohio CBD Guy in Cincinnati, said this is extremely frustrating.

“My tentative plan will involve eventually closing my East Walnut Hills location resulting in less hours and likely loss of jobs for some of my employees,” he said.

Instead of a ban, Friedman wants regulations for the hemp industry such as age-gating, packaging restrictions, and testing requirements.

“For the state to say that they are changing their stance to banning from regulating because of what the federal government has done in banning intoxicating hemp in the recent spending bill, makes no sense because marijuana has been illegal federally the whole time,” he said.

Mark Fashian, president of hemp product wholesaler Midwest Analytical Solutions in Delaware, Ohio, said this will put him, and hundreds of others out of business, if this becomes law.

He works with more than 500 stores around Ohio that sell intoxicating hemp products.

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Whistleblower Sounds Alarm on Somali Scam in Another State

A whistleblower is sounding the alarm on alleged fraud perpetrated by some in Ohio’s Somali community.

During an appearance on Fox News, attorney Mehek Cooke suggested that there is “massive fraud” in Ohio’s Medicaid home care system tied to a small group of scammers in the Somali community in Columbus. 

Cooke explained, “the problem today is not the community…it’s actually the criminals within the Somalian community that have exploited Ohio’s Medicaid program because we have a system rigth now.”

She pointed out how the perpetrators target elderly people, coaching them to claim they have serious health or memory problems. They collaborate with medical professionals to get them approved for in-home care services — funded by taxpayers. Some doctors are allegedly “getting kickbacks, which means that if they rubber-stamp this, once that individual or that provider starts getting funding throught hes tate of Ohio, they get a kickback.”

Cooke detailed an entire organized operation built around the scheme. The group uses “door knockers” who canvas neighborhoods to recruit seniors and families into the program. Once these individuals are signed up, the perpetrators bill the state for unnecessary services, or services that are never providded at all. This is a practice known as “ghost billing.”

Even further, many of those involved in the scam are not going along with it willingly, according to Cooke. She said those who refuse “have been excommunicated from a lot of these activities and a lot of even patient care.” However, these individuals feel a duty “to expose this” because the scammers are stealing money meant for those who genuinely need it. 

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Ohio Governor Says He’ll Sign Bill To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization And Restrict ‘Juiced-Up Hemp’ Products

Ohio’s Republican governor says he will sign a controversial bill to scale back the state’s voter-approved marijuana law and ban the sale of what he described as “juiced-up hemp” products that fall outside of a recently revised federal definition for the crop unless they’re sold at licensed cannabis dispensaries.

Just days after the legislature gave final approval to the marijuana legislation, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said on Thursday that he intends to enact it into law.

“To me, it’s a major, major victory, and it’s a long time coming. But it’s a major victory, I think, for kids in the state,” he said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “There’s going to be some regulation. They won’t be able to have juiced-up hemp gummies. They won’t be able to walk into a gas station and an 11-year-old buy this stuff.”

The governor did not respond to a question about whether the marijuana components of the legislation undermined the will of voters who approved adult-use legalization in 2023.

The bill on DeWine’s desk would recriminalize certain marijuana activity that was legalized under that ballot initiative, and it’d also remove anti-discrimination protections for cannabis consumers that were enacted under that law.

After the House revised the initial Senate-passed legislation, removing certain controversial provisions, the Senate quickly rejected those changes in October. That led to the appointment of a bicameral conference committee to resolve outstanding differences between the chambers. That panel then approved a negotiated form of the bill, which passed the House last month and has since cleared the Senate.

To advocates’ disappointment, the final version of the measure now heading to the governor’s desk would eliminate language in current statute providing anti-discrimination protections for people who lawfully use cannabis. That includes protections meant to prevent adverse actions in the context of child custody rights, the ability to qualify for organ transplants and professional licensing.

It would also recriminalize possessing marijuana from any source that isn’t a state-licensed dispensary in Ohio or from a legal homegrow. As such, people could be charged with a crime for carrying cannabis they bought at a legal retailer in neighboring Michigan.

Additionally, it would ban smoking cannabis at outdoor public locations such as bar patios—and it would allow landlords to prohibit vaping marijuana at rented homes. Violating that latter policy, even if it involves vaping in a person’s own backyard at a rental home, would constitute a misdemeanor offense.

The legislation would also replace what had been a proposed regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp that the House had approved with a broad prohibition on sales outside marijuana dispensaries following a recent federal move to recriminalize such products.

Last month, Sen. Stephen Huffman (R), the primary sponsor, defended the upheaval of the state’s marijuana law, saying voters approved an initiative that amended the state’s revised code, not its Constitution, so they “knew that the General Assembly could come at any time” and “pass a bill to get rid of the entire thing.”

“But we’re not,” he said. “I think overall, for the average person that does recreational or medical marijuana, this bill will make it better… It’s going to be reasonable for most Ohioans.”

Under the bill, hemp items with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container, or those containing synthetic cannabinoids, could no longer be sold outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary setting. That would align with a newly enacted federal hemp law included in an appropriations package signed by President Donald Trump last month.

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SHOCK: Ohio Democrat Sworn into City Council Seat Hours After Arrest on Sex Abuse Charges Involving Children

Ohio Democrat Gerald Dixon was sworn into office for a second term on the Whitehall City Council on Tuesday, just hours after he was released from custody on his own recognizance following his arrest on child sex abuse charges. Dixon denies the charges.

The 64-year-old Dixon, who said this year he has been a Democrat since 1980, overwhelmingly won a second term to the nonpartisan Whitehall City Council Ward 1 seat in November with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Whitehall is a suburb of Columbus.

WBNS-TV showed dueling video images of Dixon at his bond hearing Tuesday and being sworn in just hours after his release:

Excerpt from the Columbus Dispatch report on Dixon:

A Whitehall City Council member charged with sexually abusing several boys since the 1990s is denying the charges and has taken his oath of office for another term in council chambers.

Gerald Dixon was arrested and charged Dec. 8 by Whitehall police, accused of sexually abusing at least eight boys since 1996. On Dec. 9, a Franklin County Municipal Court judge released Dixon from the Franklin County jail on his own recognizance as he was deemed not a threat to flee.

Hours later, Dixon appeared in Whitehall City Council chambers as scheduled to take his oath of office, having been reelected to another four-year term in the Nov. 4 election to represent the city’s 1st Ward.

Dixon has been charged with felony counts of gross sexual imposition and compelling prostitution. Whitehall police said Dixon’s arrest was part of a larger investigation and that he had been under investigation since 2020, before he was elected to City Council. Whitehall police were assisted by the FBI, police said Dec. 9 during a press conference the day after Dixon’s arrest.

WCMH-TV reported the case could go back decades (excerpt):

Police say they have evidence that a Whitehall city councilman spent years and perhaps decades grooming underage victims, leading to his arrest Monday night on felony charges.

Allegations that Gerald Dixon was grooming boys were brought to police’s attention in late 2020, with an investigation beginning in mid 2023, Chief Mike Crispen said Tuesday morning.

“The evidence is pretty overwhelming. And this started long before he was on council,” Crispen said. “I’m not sure if he was aware that we were looking at him, but certainly we were before he ever became a councilmember.”

At least eight victims have come forward, and police said they often exhibited signs of sexual victimization, both mentally and physically, which halted some to share their full experiences with Dixon. Dixon, 64, who has served since 2021, is facing felony charges of gross sexual imposition and compelling prostitution.

…Dixon is being accused of requesting victims to perform sexually explicit acts and of paying an underage, cognitively impaired individual to perform sexual acts. The investigation into Dixon stretched past Ohio into New York and Michigan, prompting Whitehall police to reach out to the FBI.

Dixon was arrested Monday about 6 p.m. without incident. During a search, electronic devices were found with explicit material and writings as well as drawings of young boys. Detectives described it as a “hoarder house,” Crispen said.

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Ohio Lawmakers Pass Bill To Roll Back Voter-Approved Marijuana Law And Impose Hemp Restrictions, Sending It To Governor

The Ohio Senate has voted to concur with a House-amended bill to scale back the state’s voter-approved marijuana law and ban the sale of hemp products that fall outside of a recently revised federal definition for the crop unless they’re sold at licensed cannabis dispensaries.

The measure from Sen. Stephen Huffman (R) was substantively revised in the House last month, but the originating chamber voted 22-7 on Tuesday to accept those changes and send the legislation to Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R) desk.

The legislation now pending the governor’s signature would recriminalize certain marijuana activity that was legalized under a ballot initiative that passed in 2023  as well as remove anti-discrimination protections for cannabis consumers that were enacted under that law.

After the House revised the initial Senate-passed legislation, removing certain controversial provisions, the Senate quickly rejected those changes in October. That led to the appointment of a bicameral conference committee to resolve outstanding differences between the chambers. That panel then approved a negotiated form of the bill, which passed the House last month and has now cleared the Senate.

To advocates’ disappointment, the final version of the measure now heading to the governor’s desk would eliminate language in current statute providing anti-discrimination protections for people who lawfully use cannabis. That includes protections meant to prevent adverse actions in the context of child custody rights, the ability to qualify for organ transplants and professional licensing.

It would also recriminalize possessing marijuana from any source that isn’t a state-licensed dispensary in Ohio or from a legal homegrow. As such, people could be charged with a crime for carrying cannabis they bought at a legal retailer in neighboring Michigan.

Additionally, it would ban smoking cannabis at outdoor public locations such as bar patios—and it would allow landlords to prohibit vaping marijuana at rented homes. Violating that latter policy, even if it involves vaping in a person’s own backyard at a rental home, would constitute a misdemeanor offense.

The legislation would also replace what had been a proposed regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp that the House had approved with a broad prohibition on sales outside marijuana dispensaries following a recent federal move to recriminalize such products.

“In short, this bill leaves the crux of Issue 2 and marijuana access intact, while providing for several important public safety concerns and also regulations that protect Ohio children,” Huffman argued on the Senate floor ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Sen. Bill DeMora (D), however, said the legislation undermines the will of voters.

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Ohio Senate Expected To Vote On Bill Recriminalizing Some Marijuana Activity That Voters Legalized

A new law that’s likely to pass at the Statehouse next week would establish a series of minor criminal penalties for people who improperly transport or possess marijuana in Ohio, while rolling back legal protections for users in venues like child custody or professional licensing disputes.

For that reason, NORML, the oldest marijuana advocacy organization in the U.S., is leading a quixotic effort to ask the Ohio Senate to reject Senate Bill 56 before a final vote next week.

With the Senate’s approval, the bill would go to Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for a signature or veto.

The marijuana changes come within a larger package that also imposes a comprehensive, new regulatory system on intoxicating hemp, a product that’s functionally similar to legal marijuana but sold without the age restrictions, taxes or quality controls. DeWine, a Republican who opposed relaxing Ohio’s marijuana laws, has made a public cause of the intoxicating hemp issue for more than a year now.

But perhaps out of a political compromise, marijuana users have found themselves caught in the crosshairs within the hemp crackdown, according to Morgan Fox, NORML’s political director.

“A lot of these things are completely nonsensical,” he said in an interview. “This is recriminalizing a lot of behavior that is relatively innocuous and has been legal for some time.”

House and Senate lawmakers negotiated a final version of the legislation in a conference committee, which means the bill can no longer be changed. The House passed it last month, with a late-night 52-34 vote, where a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.

Committee members described the final version as a compromise between a list of scrambled voting blocs: Democrats who don’t want new criminal penalties for run-of-the-mill users, libertarian-minded Republicans protective of the right to grow one’s own marijuana, religious conservatives who disapprove expanding the legal use of intoxicants, local governments who want their tax money, a governor seeking a crackdown on the gas station hemp retailers, and both the hemp and marijuana industries seeking market advantage. (All told, 153 lobbyists registered to work on the bill as of August, state records show.)

In 2023, Ohio voters passed Issue 2 by a 57 percent to 43 percent vote, allowing for adults to lawfully use, buy, sell and possess cannabis. Those rights remain broadly intact under the bill.

However, SB 56 imposes legal penalties for things like possessing marijuana in anything but its original container or buying legal marijuana in Michigan where it tends to be much cheaper.

What follows is a closer look at some of those rules.

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