USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 470 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
12.03.2026

USA - Software vendor sues FCIC after regulators reverse agent compensation rules

The firm alleges it invested nearly $20 million based on federal approvals later reversed.

12.03.2026

Philippines - Eastern Visayas to pilot mangrove insurance program

Hundreds of residents along the coast of Cancabato Bay were saved when Typhoon Yolanda struck this city in November 2013, thanks to a mangrove forest established by a local fishing community.

12.03.2026

India - Farmers fear yield loss after hailstorm in Ajnala villages

Intermittent drizzling accompanied by moderate winds and sporadic hailstorms in parts of the region early Thursday morning led to a noticeable drop in temperature, providing relief from the recent spell of rising heat.

12.03.2026

USA - As strawberry season begins, SC farmers are wary of disease threat that could ruin crops

South Carolina strawberry farmers are approaching spring with cautious optimism.

12.03.2026

Philippines - PCIC: Over 80% of farmers’ insurance claims released within 20 days

The majority of insurance claims of farmers and fishers have been released within the standard 20-day processing period in 2025, according to the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).

12.03.2026

India - Centre to procure 100% tur dal from farmers in Madhya Pradesh

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday approved 100% procurement of tur (pigeon pea) dal from Madhya Pradesh, a move aimed at protecting farmers from any fall in market prices.

11.03.2026

Scaling up crop insurance in Africa for climate resilience and agricultural transformation

As climate change impacts intensify, African economies face increasing exposure to extreme weather events. The World Bank estimates that nearly 18% of the world’s population is at risk from severe weather events from which recovery would be difficult; in Africa, that number is 37%.

11.03.2026

USA - Specialty Crop Losses Outpace Federal Bridge Assistance Funding

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rolling out a new Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program for specialty crops — that is, crops not included in the first $1 billion relief package — but early analysis from Terrain suggests economic losses across the sector far exceed available funding.