BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) — Eight employees at five Brockton stores have been charged with improper use of electronic food stamp cards.

The eight defendants arrested Thursday, including the owners of some of the stores, are charged with offenses including larceny, trafficking food stamps, access fraud, and procurement fraud.

The Plymouth district attorney’s office said some transactions involved a clerk entering a $100 grocery sale using an EBT card, and giving the customer $50 cash. The stores would then use the card to buy groceries at another store, which were sold at large markups.

Undercover state troopers have been performing the transactions since May.

The stores raided were B&D Mart; JP Communications; Lucky Dollar; Rice’s Market; and Dip N’ Sip.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.