LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — The owner of a Lynchburg business pleaded guilty to federal food stamp fraud on March 3, 2026.
59-year-old Rajan Babbar, the owner of Taste of India grocery store, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and one count of transacting in criminally derived property.
EARLIER: Lynchburg business owner charged with food stamp and wire fraud: DOJ
Taste of India was approved as a SNAP retailer in December of 2016. Beginning around April of 2021, investigators allege that SNAP sales at the grocery store dramatically increased. The Department of Justice said that in 2018, Taste of India was bringing in an average of around $2,600 a month in SNAP transactions. By 2023, that average had risen to $65,000, an approximately 2,500 percent increase.
The DOJ said Babbar admitted to allowing people to exchange their…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.