USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 838 views
A Kansas farmer has admitted to defrauding federal government crop insurance programs before lying in court documents when filing for bankruptcy. Trego County farmer Kevin W. Struss pleaded guilty Monday at a federal courthouse in Wichita to one count of federal crop insurance fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud, court documents show. In the plea deal, prosecutors said they plan to ask the court for more than $2.1 million in restitution. That total includes more than $600,000 in insurance premium benefits, more than $1.2 million in federal crop insurance premium subsidies and more than $270,000 in administrative costs. Struss admitted in the plea agreement that in the spring of 2015 he devised a scheme to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. The plan involved making false proof of loss statements that under-reported his total harvested bushels of corn and grain sorghum, which is also known as milo. Those crops had been insured with an FCIC subsidy. As a result of the scheme, he was paid crop insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.
Then in April 2018, Struss filed for bankruptcy. He marked that he had not transferred property to anyone in the previous two years. In fact, Struss admitted in his guilty plea, he had transferred $470,000 to someone else within the three months before he filed for bankruptcy. Though Struss is only charged with crop insurance fraud from the 2015 reports, prosecutors alleged that his scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture continued with false reports in 2016 and 2017. The criminal case was filed against the rural WaKeeney farmer earlier this month. That first year, in 2015, Struss allegedly under-reporting the yields of his corn crop by about 23,524 bushels and his grain sorghum crop by about 31,208 bushels. The alleged false reports resulted in Struss receiving about $201,000 in federal crop insurance benefits and about $511,000 in federal crop insurance premium subsidies that he was not entitled to. Prosecutors also say the scheme led the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to pay additional administrative costs to ARMtech Insurance Services that would not have been paid if the reports were accurate. In 2016, prosecutors alleged, Struss under-reported his corn crop by about 116,194 bushels and sought more than $1.5 million in federal crop insurance indemnification payments to which he was not entitled. The claim was denied by Rural Community Insurance Services. Federal court records show that Struss sued Rural Community Insurance Services in April 2018 in relation to his 2016 corn crop. That case is in arbitration. In a separate case filed that same month, Struss sued the USDA, Risk Management Agency and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, also in relation to his 2016 corn crop. A federal judge in Kansas City ruled in favor of the government agencies this summer. In 2017, prosecutors alleged, Struss under-reported his sorghum crop by about 35,530 bushels, causing Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company to pay him more than $108,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled. Prosecutors alleged in the bankruptcy fraud charge that Struss lied in his petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2018 because he had wired $470,000 to Kellie Acker in the previous months. A pair of online obituaries show Acker was Struss’s sister-in-law in 2015 and was his fiance in 2018.
Source - https://www.kansas.com
26.10.2026

Malaysia studies expanding crop insurance to other agricultural sectors

The government is assessing steps to expand the crop insurance scheme as the agricultural sector faces increasingly significant risks from natural disasters and extreme weather. A comprehensive study is needed before the scheme can be extended beyond rice crops, including to examine how premiums should be paid and losses assessed.

26.10.2026

Crop losses from recurring droughts ‘shrinking Poland’s economy and impacting businesses’

A new report has found that lower crop yields significantly affect industries beyond agriculture, including trade and transport.

26.10.2026

Australia - Starving flying foxes target banana, berry farms on NSW Mid North Coast

Tens of thousands of bananas will not make it onto supermarket shelves as flying foxes decimate crops on the NSW Mid North Coast.

26.10.2026

USA - RMA Reminds Producers of Important Crop Insurance Deadlines

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds agricultural producers that the final date to apply for or make changes to their existing crop insurance coverage is quickly approaching for winter planted crops, perennials, shellfish and Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF). Sales closing dates vary by crop and location, but the next major deadlines are Nov. 20, Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Jan. 31.

26.10.2026

Moroccan produce sector welcomes plan for regional distribution companies

Morocco's fresh produce industry, through FIFEL, has welcomed the government's plan to create fresh produce marketing companies. Last Friday, Minister of Economy and Finance Fouzi Lekjaa told the House of Representatives' Finance and Economic Development Committee that the government intends to set up six regional companies for aggregation and marketing in the country's main agricultural basins, under the Generation Green 2020-2030 strategy.

26.10.2026

UK - Man arrested after £28,000 paid out for allegedly stolen sheep

Police are investigating suspected fraudulent insurance claims involving more than 650 allegedly stolen sheep, with £28,220 already paid out and a further £64,800 claim blocked.

25.10.2026

Dominican Republic - Tornado and rain cause crop damage in Valverde

A gust of wind described by producers and agricultural authorities as a small tornado caused considerable damage to banana and plantain plantations in Valverde province, where heavy rains on Wednesday afternoon affected hundreds of acres of crops and threaten the income of farmers in the area.

25.10.2026

Taiwan - Typhoon Champi causes NT$133 million in agricultural losses

Yunlin accounts for 82% of estimated damage, with garlic hit hardest.