Chattanooga store manager and police officer accused of trying to convice a woman to commit food stamp fraud
Sharonda DePriest, of Rossville Georgia is upset because she said managers at Walmart refused to legally return money back to her EBT food stamp card.
It happened at the Walmart near Brainerd Road.
DePriest purchased $240 worth of food and noticed she was over-charged for an item that was marked down. She said when a store manager refused to honor the marked down price that was on the item, she gave back all the food in the basket and asked for a refund.
"A manager named Dave said we’ll have to give you the refund in cash or in a gift card. I told him no. you’ll have to give me the refund in the same manner that I gave the store," DePriest said.
She admitted that she and the manager got into a verbal dispute over how the refund should be processed. DePriest said she insisted the money be refunded to her EPT card because it’s illegal to refund money in the form of cash or gift card if the money came from an EBT food stamp card.
"He told me that I needed to learn the facts of life. And I told him he needed to learn the facts of business," Depriest said.
Chattanooga police officer Jamie Barrow was called to the Brainerd Walmart to respond to a report of a civil disorder. DePriest said store managers briefed officer Barrow about what happened before she came over to talk to DePriest.
"She said from what I understand, they’re offering to give you a refund in cash. I told her I was not taking that because it’s illegal and also because food stamps are used to purchase food so that taxes will be omitted from the food purchase. If I were to take cash, then I would have paid taxes on the food that I was going to purchase," DePriest said.
According to research conducted by WDEF, DePriest was right. No stores are allowed refund food purchases in cash if items purchased were paid for by Electronic Benefit Card or EBT. This is the policy on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policy on refunds:
You can make refunds into the EBT account if the customer returns food bought with SNAP benefits. Do not provide refunds in cash. Learn to use the SNAP refund transaction; a refund transaction credits the customer’s account. The POS terminal may require a supervisor’s or manager’s approval code to be entered as part of the transaction. Your EBT retailer manual will have details.
WDEF contacted the Georgia Department of Human Services in Atlanta to further also clarified why it’s illegal to refund food stamp purchases in cash.
"If you got cash or a gift card, then you could not guarantee those funds would be used at retailers what participate in the food stamp program," said the Director of the Benefit Recovery Unit, Maurice Ingram.
"The officer asked me how stupid would I be not to take the cash? I told her as smart as I am to know that it is against the law," DePriest said.
DePriest said the officer escorted her out of the store and was told she can never walk into any Walmart in Chattanooga after Walmart officials filed a complaint.
DePriest went to Chattanooga Police headquarters to get a copy of the complaint. During her visit, she said she spoke with Barrow’s supervisor who has been identified as Officer Randall Noorbergen.
"He told me that it was not their job to know that it was illegal to accept cash in place lieu of food stamps. My question to him in my exact words was, what idiot doesn’t know that it’s illegal to take food stamps and give them away for cash," DePriest said. She went on to say Officer Noorbergen stated he would not help her because she referred to Officer Barrow as an idiot.
DePriest said she then spoke to an officer identified as a Lieutenant Bacon.
"Lieutenant Bacon told me that it was not their jobs to know that it was illegal and that Officer Barrow didn’t know it was illegal. I told him the same thing; it’s on the news every day and it’s called food stamp fraud and Tenncare fraud," DePriest said.
The mother of four children said she felt compelled to do the right thing by not accepting the cash. She said she feared that she could be criminally charged with fraud.
"What type of officer would advise someone in the general public not only to break a state law, but to also break a federal law," DePriest asked.
DePriest said one of the officers she spoke to at police headquarters told her that officer Barrow was wearing a bodycam during the exchange of words between the two women. In a copy of the report obtained by WDEF, DePriest is described as being angry and using foul language during conversation with Officer Barrow.
"When I heard she had a bodycam, I asked that her bodycam video be pulled. I even asked that they contact Walmart and have Walmart surveillance camera video pulled and review that as well," She said.
DePriest says she filed a fraud report with the Georgia food stamp office.
"They contacted Walmart and told them that since this issue has been brought to their attention, they have to show where the food stamps have been placed back on her card," DePriest said. She also went on to say Georgia state officials told Walmart officials they cannot give her a gift card or cash as a food stamp refund.
A manager at another Walmart has reportedly gotten involved and helped DePriest retrieve most of the money back into her EBT food stamp account. She is still owed $95 that has yet to return to her account.
"They have no clue how to get the $95 back on my card," she said.
Walmart’s cooperate office refuses to go on the record to answer specific questions in a recorded interview. Instead, a spokesperson released a written statement. It read:
"Our store attempted to credit the EBT account, but the transaction was denied. Ultimately we were able to take care of the customer and return the amount to her EBT account. However, because of her behavior towards our associates, she is no longer welcome in our stores."
WDEF also reached out to the Chattanooga Police Department and requested to speak to the officers involved or a commanding officer. The request was denied.
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