SEATTLE (Diya TV) — Federal agents have returned a Tacoma grocery store owner from India to face charges that he diverted at least $600,000 in federal food assistance benefits through cash-for-benefits transactions.
Manjit Bedi, identified by prosecutors as a sixty-four-year-old Kent resident, arrived in Western Washington on Wednesday night. The Justice Department said he was scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Friday. Prosecutors plan to seek his detention pending trial, citing his previous departure from the country.
Bedi pleaded not guilty on April 22. The FBI said a judge ordered him to surrender his passport and remain in Washington, but he subsequently drove into Canada and traveled to India. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant in May for alleged violations of his release conditions.
Prosecutors allege that Bedi exchanged Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for cash at his Tacoma business between March 2024 and June 2025.
Instead of selling eligible food, investigators say, he charged customers’ electronic benefit transfer cards and paid them approximately half the transaction value in cash, keeping the remainder. A $200 transaction, for example, would yield $100 for the customer rather than a food purchase. Bedi faces wire fraud and SNAP benefit fraud charges.
The FBI added Bedi to its Most Wanted Fraudsters list on Sept. 3 and circulated his information internationally. Indian authorities subsequently arrested him and transferred him to federal agents.
The USDA Office of Inspector General, FBI, and Washington State Department of Social and Health Services investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with his return.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Cantore is prosecuting the case. Bedi remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
