Punjab Police arrest FBI-wanted SNAP fraud suspect Manjit Singh Bedi

Punjab Police arrested Manjit Singh Bedi, 65, in the Paragpur area of Jalandhar on Friday. Director General Gaurav Yadav said Bedi is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of most-wanted fraudsters. The FBI had posted a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. India is informing the bureau.

Bedi is an India-born naturalised American citizen. He moved to the United States in 2019. Both his sons live there. The FBI case concerns the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal food-aid scheme known as SNAP. Investigators say Bedi ran the Asian Grocery Store in Tacoma, Washington, a shop authorised to take Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. Instead of selling food, he is alleged to have swiped the cards, handed cash to customers, and kept about half the value. The loss to the US government is put at least at $600,000, about Rs 5.6 crore at current rates.

A federal grand jury charged him with wire fraud and SNAP fraud. He was allowed to remain free and was told to surrender his passport and stay in Washington. In April 2026 he drove into Canada and flew on to India. A federal arrest warrant for violating the terms of his supervision was issued on 21 May. The FBI then added him to the fraudsters list and put a price on the tip.

Jalandhar Commissioner Satinder Singh said a local complaint was recorded on 16 August. A team was formed after later intelligence that Bedi was moving between Ludhiana and Jalandhar. He was stopped near Paragpur. Police say he lives in Amar Nagar, off Gulab Devi Road.

SNAP fraud of this type is old tradecraft in American food-stamp cases. A shopkeeper who is allowed to process benefits becomes a cash window. The customer gets money for a cut. The government pays for groceries that never left the shelf. The sums in individual stores are often modest. They add up. Six hundred thousand dollars is large enough for a federal indictment and a most-wanted card. It is not a billion-dollar wire. It is a grocery till.

The arrest is a test of how fast India and the United States now move on financial fugitives who are not celebrities. Bedi is 65. He is not a political name. The paperwork still has to travel: a formal request, a court in India, a decision on extradition or deportation. Until that file is complete he remains in Punjab Police custody on the local complaint.

Yadav's statement was careful. He said Bedi was reportedly placed on the American list and had allegedly fled through Canada. That language protects the Indian police while the FBI packet arrives. The facts that are not in dispute are the arrest location, the age, the Tacoma shop, and the existence of a US warrant.

For Jalandhar the case will be a short local story unless the extradition hearing draws a crowd. For the FBI it is one name off a list that is refreshed every month. For SNAP administrators in Washington state it is a closed till. The remaining question is which court, on which continent, will try the till receipts.

Bedi has not issued a public statement through a lawyer that Indian outlets have quoted. If he contests extradition he will argue identity, health, or the quality of the American evidence. If he does not, he will be on a plane. Either path starts with the stop at Paragpur on Friday.

Extradition from India to the United States is slow even when the paperwork is clean. Courts ask for dual criminality, for an assurance on sentencing, and for proof that the person in the dock is the person on the warrant. A SNAP case meets dual criminality without strain. The delay, if there is one, will be medical certificates and the queue in the designated court. Punjab Police have done the part that required a roadblock. The rest is a file.