News

Wife accused in food stamp scheme posts bail

ATTORNEY GENERAL COURTESY |  Prabha Rani and federal agents in a screen grab from video supplied by the attorney general’s office.
ATTORNEY GENERAL COURTESY | Prabha Rani and federal agents in a screen grab from video supplied by the attorney general’s office last month.

One half of the Riverhead couple charged with orchestrating a scheme to steal more than $670,000 from a government food and nutrition program has been released from Suffolk County jail, according to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office.

On Monday, Prabha Rani, 58, posted $250,000 cash bail, police said. Her husband, Ravinder Parkash, 59, remains in custody.

ATTORNEY GENERAL COURTESY | Ravinder Parkash, 59, remains in custody.

On June 27, the pair was arrested following a police raid of the Gulf gas station they own on East Main Street in Riverhead.

Mr. Parkash faces felony grand larceny and money laundering and is being held on $500,000 cash bail.

Ms. Rani was arrested on lesser theft charges.

The alleged plot involved illegally trading cash for hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, the attorney general said.

Almost two dozen other Suffolk County residents, including 17 from Riverhead Town, were also arrested as part of a 60-count grand jury indictment unsealed June 27 after an 18-month investigation, said state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Both are due back in state Supreme Court on Sept. 10.

[email protected]