Who is Manjit Singh Bedi? The Grocery Store Owner on FBI's Most Wanted List!

FBI Targets India-born Grocery Store Owner for Fraud

Washington: The FBI has placed Manjit Singh Bedi, originally from India, on its list of most wanted fraudsters due to his alleged participation in fraudulent activities related to a US government benefits program.

Bedi reportedly ran a small grocery store in Tacoma, Washington, where he misused customers' government benefits cards, providing cash instead of food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Rather than selling food items to SNAP beneficiaries, he allegedly swiped their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, giving them cash and pocketing half of the earnings, according to the FBI's statement on Thursday.

The FBI estimates that Bedi, who is now a naturalized US citizen, defrauded the government of approximately $600,000 between March 2024 and June 2025.

His grocery store, known as Asian Grocery Store, was where he supposedly conducted these transactions with SNAP participants using their EBT cards.

The FBI has announced a reward of up to $150,000 for any information that leads to Bedi's arrest and conviction.

Following his indictment for wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud, Bedi was permitted to attend court without being taken into custody.

He was instructed to surrender his passport and stay within Washington state.

However, he managed to cross the border into Canada and subsequently fled to India, as reported by the FBI.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Bedi on May 21 in a US district court after he was charged with violating the conditions of his supervision.