Manjit Singh Bedi, a Most Wanted fraudster accused of a $600,000 food-stamp scheme, is back on American soil after an India arrest, a win the FBI is tying to a broader fugitive crackdown.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced that federal authorities have returned the naturalized U.S. citizen to the United States following his arrest in India last month. Bedi had been listed among the bureau’s Most Wanted Fraudsters and faced charges tied to an alleged Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program scam at a grocery store in Tacoma, Washington.
Fox News reported that Bedi is accused of defrauding the government of more than $600,000 in federal food stamp benefits between March 2024 and June 2025. Officials say the case is part of a wider Justice Department push against schemes that siphon money from programs taxpayers fund.
Patel framed the capture as more than a single win. He cast it as proof that high-value targets who flee overseas can still be brought home when American agents work with foreign partners.
On X, the FBI director posted a blunt update on the case.
Kash Patel wrote:
"BACK IN THE U.S. - Manjit Singh Bedi, one of the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters, arrested in September in India,"
Prosecutors allege Bedi ran the operation out of an Asian grocery store in Tacoma. The method was simple and costly for the public.
Federal officials say he swiped SNAP recipients’ EBT cards, handed customers cash instead of eligible food purchases, and kept roughly half the benefits for himself. That kind of conversion turns a nutrition program into a private cash pipeline.
The New York Post detailed the same outline of the alleged EBT-for-cash arrangement and the six-figure loss figure attached to the case. Wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud charges were among the counts he faced when he allegedly fled.
After indictment, authorities say Bedi drove to Canada and then fled to India. A federal arrest warrant issued May 21, 2026, charged him with violating the conditions of his release. The FBI had offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Just The News reported that Bedi was arrested in Jalandhar, Punjab, and that U.S. authorities moved to bring him back to face the federal case. The outlet described the arrest as another capture under the FBI’s newly launched Most Wanted Fraudsters effort.
Patel said Bedi will now face justice in the United States for the alleged crimes. He also thanked foreign law enforcement partners who helped close the loop.
Patel said:
"This is the latest in an unprecedented stretch of success in bringing high-value targets back to the United States through strong partnerships with our foreign law enforcement counterparts,"
He added a direct note of thanks to those partners for their assistance in the case.
The FBI created the Most Wanted Fraudsters list about three months before the announcement. Patel said Bedi is one of six fugitives captured through the program since it launched.
That list sits inside a larger enforcement wave. In the months since the Department of Justice established its National Fraud Enforcement Division, the department has launched more than 1,000 major fraud enforcement actions across the country. Coordinated efforts have targeted schemes hitting Medicaid, SNAP, HUD, Social Security, and Small Business Administration programs.
Patel also cited a sharp rise in bringing people back from abroad.
The FBI director stated:
"Over the past 20 months, we’ve secured 260 extraditions and removals, an increase of more than 70% compared to the previous 20-month period,"
He called Bedi’s return another significant moment for the Most Wanted Fraudsters program.
"This marks yet another significant moment for the historic FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters program,"
SNAP is sold to the public as food assistance for people who need it. Cases like this one allege a different reality: store operators treating federal benefits as inventory for cash skimming.
When EBT value is converted to cash and split, the loss is not abstract. It comes out of a program paid for by working families who never consented to bankroll a grocery-counter racket. The $600,000 figure attached to Bedi’s alleged scheme is the kind of number that makes the point without a speech.
Federal agents say the suspect did not stay to answer the charges. The alleged path, Canada, then India, is the classic move of someone who expects the system to shrug. This time, the bureau says, foreign partners and a dedicated fraud list helped close the gap.
Bedi remains accused, not convicted, of the underlying SNAP and wire fraud conduct. The warrant for violating release conditions and the India arrest put him back under U.S. process. Patel’s message was that the return itself is the enforcement result that matters now.
Food-stamp fraud is not a victimless paperwork error. It is a raid on taxpayers, and bringing fugitives home is how the government starts to prove it will not look the other way.
