(a) Any person who obtains WIC Program benefits for himself or herself or for another by fraud or abuse or anyone who otherwise defrauds or abuses the WIC Program shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished as prescribed by law. Fraud or abuse is defined as:

Attorney's Note

Under the Alabama Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class B felony2 to 20 yearsup to $30,000
Class A misdemeanorup to 1 yearup to $6,000
For details, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-6 and Ala. Code § 13A-5-7
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 22-12C-7

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Fraudulently reporting of income to receive benefits.
(2) Receiving benefits for services from two or more clinics at the same time.
(3) Selling, trading, or giving away supplies, medications, food, or food instruments issued by the program.
(4) Accepting cash from vendors.
(5) Using food instruments as payment of any debt.
(6) Unauthorized altering of food instruments.
(7) Redeeming food instruments reported lost, stolen, or destroyed.
(8) Purchasing non-food items with food instruments.
(9) Returning WIC Program foods for credit or cash.
(10) Providing cash or credit in place of authorized foods.
(11) Substitution of non-food items for listed foods.
(12) Providing less foods than is specified on a food instrument and requesting full payment for the specified amount.
(13) Charging WIC Program participants more for foods than other customers are charged.
(14) Receiving, accepting, buying, taking by way of trade or barter, or otherwise unlawfully possessing WIC Program food instruments or WIC Program foods.
(b) A second or subsequent conviction of fraud or abuse of the WIC Program shall be a Class B felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished as prescribed by law.
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