USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 504 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
09.04.2026

Moldova - Farmers received 117 million lei in insurance subsidies

The Agency for Investments and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) announced that it has completed the payment of insurance subsidies (70% of the amount of insurance premiums) for 654 farmer applications received between February 1 and September 30, 2025. The total amount of subsidies to this category for last year amounted to LE 117.08 million.

09.04.2026

Philippines - Antique farmers urged to plant drought-resistant crops ahead of El Niño

The Antique Office of the Provincial Agriculturist is advising farmers to grow drought-resistant crops in preparation for the possible effects of El Niño.

09.04.2026

India - Farmers Urge Govt To Work On Climate Change Policy, Develop Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties

Farmers who lost their Rabi crops due to untimely hailstorms, rain, and strong winds say compensation is not a foolproof solution to the issue. Instead, the government should develop a comprehensive climate change policy and focus on developing climate-resilient crop varieties, seeds that can withstand excess moisture, resist lodging from strong winds, or mature early enough to escape erratic weather.

09.04.2026

Farmers proffer solutions to tackle Nigeria’s $10bn annual post-harvest losses

Some farmers in the country have proffered workable solutions to address Nigeria’s growing post-harvest losses estimated at $10 billion annually.

09.04.2026

India - Pre-monsoon season emerging as new high-risk period for crops, analysis shows

The monsoon has long been seen as the most destructive season for Indian agriculture, with heavy rains and floods between June and September damaging crops across large areas.

09.04.2026

Azerbaijan plans to insure new crops and boost payments for flood damages

The scope of the agricultural insurance system in Azerbaijan is being expanded, and along with the insurance of new products, the volume of payments for flood and inundation losses is expected to increase, Deputy Chairperson of the Agricultural Insurance Fund (AIF), Laman Aliyeva-Mamishova, told Trend.

08.04.2026

South Korean hail damages 802 hectares of crops in South Jeolla

In South Jeolla Province, a hailstorm caused damage to more than 800 hectares of crops, with the impact concentrated in Naju, the country's main pear production area. This has raised concerns about the 2026 harvest.

08.04.2026

Corn leafhopper caused US$25.8 billion loss over four years in Brazil

The corn leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis), which is considered the crop’s main pest, has caused billions in losses to Brazilian production. A new study has quantified the economic impact of corn stunt diseases on Brazilian production.