Soak the Poor (1937)

The eleventh episode of MGM's long-running CRIME DOES NOT PAY series covers is about government fraud. During the Depression, one of the means of relief was to issue "Home Relief" tickets, equivalent to modern WIC Food Stamps. Hoods set up to move between the grocers and the government: the hoods paid the grocers less than face value, and cashed in the tickets themselves. With the grocers losing money on the transaction, they raised prices.

Leon Ames plays the investigator, years before he became the actor who played the father in all the comedies about teen-aged girls.

This popular series highlighted the rackets, national security and stories of petty crimes in 47 two-reel movies from 1935 through 1945. Combining real-world woes and police shoot-outs, it was a popular series that were remade as radio dramas and comic books.