USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 774 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
20.09.2026

Guyana - First crop-insurance payouts reach 2,068 rice farmers

More than 2,000 rice farmers received nearly US$128,000 in crop-insurance claims during the first half of 2026 after above-normal rainfall affected production during the first crop.

20.09.2026

USA - Michigan launches project with crop insurance companies to reward regenerative farming

Michigan is launching what officials said is the nation's first public-private crop insurance program for regenerative farming.

20.09.2026

Spain - Planas expects to approve in October the extra aid for agricultural insurance due to the fires.

Luis Planas will bring to the Council of Ministers in October the Royal Decree with extra aid for agricultural insurance for those affected by the recent fires.

20.09.2026

Growers should photograph crop damage before and after uprooting affected plants

ASAJA Almería recommends that growers carefully monitor their crops for pests and viral diseases. They should also document any damage carefully, especially if they may need to uproot the crop because of the severity of the infestation.

20.09.2026

India - Sharad Pawar urges Maharashtra CM to declare drought, seeks Rs 50,000 per hectare for affected farmers

Pawar cites rainfall deficit across 31 districts and seeks immediate relief for farmers, farm labourers and livestock.

20.09.2026

India - Udupi paddy crop at risk as rain fails at crucial stage

Paddy farmers in Udupi district are facing renewed uncertainty as rainfall has weakened sharply just when the crop is entering a crucial stage of ear formation and grain filling. 

17.09.2026

12-hectare blueberry greenhouse project underway in Kenya

Kakuzi Plc has started development of a 12-hectare blueberry greenhouse project in Kenya, adding blueberries as its third commercial superfood crop alongside macadamia and avocado as part of its revenue diversification strategy.

17.09.2026

USA - USDA Expands Crop Insurance Flexibility for Organic Stone Fruit Growers

The USDA is improving crop insurance options for organic stone fruit producers, giving them more flexibility beginning with the 2027 crop year.