USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 389 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
04.12.2025

EU reaches agreement on use of new genomic techniques in agriculture

The European Parliament and EU Member States have reached a political agreement on the use of “new genomic techniques” (NGTs) in the agri-food sector, the Danish presidency of the council confirmed on Thursday. The deal paves the way for a new regulatory framework governing how these technologies may be used to develop more resilient and sustainable plant varieties.

04.12.2025

Vietnam targets 400 000 ha in winter crop plan

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reports that the northern region aims to plant 400,000–410,000 hectares of winter crops, with an estimated output of 4.8–5 million tonnes.

04.12.2025

USA - NDFU president says new crop insurance rule will hurt farmers' bottom lines

A new federal crop insurance rule that drops buy-up option coverage for prevented planting insurance will be “bad news for North Dakota farmers,” according to North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne.

04.12.2025

Australia - $20 million to grow state’s aquaculture industry

The state government launched the $20 million Aquaculture Industry Development Program on Monday, aiming to strengthen and expand the seafood industry’s economic contribution to NSW.

04.12.2025

FAO’s new Global Emergency and Resilience Appeal seeks $2.5 billion to support 100 million people in 54 countries

Inaugural Appeal focuses on cost-effective agricultural solutions that link urgent needs with long-term resilience.

04.12.2025

India - Farmers devastated as severe storm wreaks havoc on crops

Farmers in southern India are under pressure as a recent storm has severely damaged their crops.

03.12.2025

India - Rodents destroy 42 pc crops in Mizoram, over 5K farmers affected

According to the Agriculture Department, Mamit district, which shares borders with Bangladesh and Tripura, was the worst hit.

03.12.2025

Hailstorm damages half of Argentinian cherry crop in the western Middle Valley

The storm that hit western Valle Medio in Argentina on Sunday threatened the cherry harvest. Hail covered roughly 30 kilometers from Chelforó to near Chimpay, with a width of 3 to 4 kilometers, according to producers' reports.