Manjit Singh Bedi was told to hand over his passport and stay in Washington state. According to the FBI, he drove to the Canadian border instead, then made his way to India. On Friday, authorities there arrested him.
Bedi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is the fifth fugitive caught through the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters initiative, which launched in June. The bureau says it is working with Indian authorities to bring him back to face charges, and had offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest in a post on X, saying Bedi was believed to have fled there sometime last year.
How the scheme worked
Federal investigators say Bedi took at least $600,000 from the government between March 2024 and June 2025 through a SNAP fraud scheme, working out of an Asian grocery store he ran in Tacoma, Washington. The method was crude. He swiped the Electronic Benefit Transfer cards of SNAP recipients, gave them cash rather than food, and kept roughly half the value of the benefits for himself.
He was later indicted on wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud charges. A judge let him appear in court without being held. Then came the passport order, the drive north and the flight. A federal arrest warrant charging him with violating the conditions of his release was issued on May 21, 2026.
A list that is getting results
The five fugitives captured so far are collectively accused of more than $2 billion in fraud, and spent nearly 4,000 combined days on the run, the FBI says. Patel called it “a historic success for this initiative” and added: “The days of taking advantage of American taxpayers without consequence are over.”
Colin M. McDonald, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, said the arrest shows the department’s reach “extends to every corner of the planet.” His division, he said, will keep working with the FBI so fraudsters are held accountable, “no matter where they hide.”
Sources
- EXCLUSIVE: FBI's fifth Most Wanted Fraudster captured after alleged SNAP scam suspect arrested in India
- US 'most-wanted' fraudster Manjeet Singh Bedi arrested in India, FBI chief Kash Patel says – The Economic Times
