USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 539 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
04.05.2026

Bulgaria's Kyustendil cherry crop severely affected by frost for second consecutive year

Frosts have caused critical damage to cherry orchards in the Kyustendil region of Bulgaria for the second consecutive spring, with producers reporting near-total crop losses. 

04.05.2026

Vietnam - MoF moves to expand farm insurance support and eligibility

The Ministry of Finance has proposed sharply increasing agricultural insurance premium subsidies to up to 95 per cent and widening the pool of eligible beneficiaries to better share risks with producers, stabilise farm incomes, and strengthen climate resilience.

04.05.2026

Bangladesh - One lakh hectares of rice fields go underwater in haor regions

What should have been a vibrant harvest season in the country’s haor belt across seven districts has instead turned into widespread devastation. 

04.05.2026

Philippines - P150-M insurance buffer vs El Niño but PCIC limits coverage to irrigated farms

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) in Western Visayas has set aside P150 million in drought insurance as El Niño conditions intensify, with officials warning that the region is already nearing “critical” risk levels that could threaten thousands of farmers in the coming cropping season.

04.05.2026

Indian banana crops damaged across 809 hectares in Tamil Nadu

Strong winds and heavy rainfall in parts of Tamil Nadu have damaged banana crops across districts, including Theni, Dindigul, Coimbatore, and Salem.

04.05.2026

Poland reports up to 100% fruit crop losses after late April frosts

Fruit growers in Poland are assessing losses after late April frosts damaged crops across multiple regions, with eastern areas most affected and stone fruit production under pressure.

03.05.2026

Vietnam - Aid for agricultural insurance premiums proposed to rise

The Ministry of Finance has proposed increasing support for agricultural insurance premiums and expanding eligible beneficiaries in a move aimed at encouraging greater participation by farmers and agricultural organisations.

03.05.2026

USA - MDARD Awards Over $3.2 Million Through Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant Program

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced more than $3.2 million of grants to 10 Michigan entities through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program.