Seattle grocer featured in alleged food stamp fraud video received city support through Wilson’s $1.7 million initiative

Lam’s Seafood Asian Market received permitting assistance and help paying for repairs after break-ins, according to the city’s September 17 announcement. Seattle officials also said they were planning facade and security improvements ahead of the business’s third location opening in Rainier Valley.

The announcement promoted the Lam’s partnership as a successful pilot that helped the city develop assistance for other grocers. The announcement did not disclose how much funding Lam’s received.

Weeks later, Shirley’s video placed the market at the center of allegations that people were exchanging access to food stamp benefits for cash in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District.

In the footage, a woman offers $60 for an Electronic Benefit Transfer card reportedly containing $120 in benefits, then accompanies Shirley and Grant Denton into Lam’s. Shirley says a cashier entered a can of Spam and a small package of sushi as a $120 purchase.

He alleges the inflated purchase price was part of an arrangement to convert food benefits into cash. Shirley says he did not have the card’s PIN to authorize the transaction, and the account does not establish that benefits were redeemed or cash changed hands.

Outside the store, Shirley confronts the woman. “You’re committing fraud. Food stamp fraud. It’s against the law,” he says. “I know, yeah,” she replies.

Lam’s Seafood has posted two videos disputing Shirley’s claims. Shirley has called for federal intervention following his investigation.

The controversy follows an earlier police investigation during which Seattle police had identified Lam’s as a location where suspected EBT-trafficking transactions occurred during a months-long investigation reported in October 2025, nearly a year before Wilson announced the expanded grocery initiative.

King County prosecutors charged Ha Son Thach and Lien My Khuu with multiple counts of unlawful trafficking in food stamps. Both pleaded not guilty. The reporting does not establish that either defendant owned or worked for Lam’s.

That history raises questions about what Seattle officials knew when providing assistance to the business and what oversight accompanied the public funding.

Wilson announced the grocery initiative as an investment in food access and neighborhood businesses. “Every person deserves to have access to fresh, healthy food,” she said.

The Office of Economic Development administers the program, which includes market studies in eight neighborhoods, a year of technical assistance for 10 independent grocery stores, and funding for improvements. Supermarkets experiencing high levels of retail theft can also receive one-time funding for security and facility upgrades.

Lam’s owner David Tran said city assistance would help the business open in a Rainier Valley grocery site that had been vacant for eight years. He said security funding would help prevent break-ins and vandalism.

The initiative’s security component has roots in former Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed 2026 budget, which included $1 million for grocery-store security. Wilson announced the broader $1.7 million effort in September.