USA - Kansas farmer admits defrauding USDA crop insurance

22.10.2019 420 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
19.01.2026

FAO issues new guidance on food safety risks linked to climate mitigation chemicals in agriculture

As governments and agribusinesses race to curb greenhouse gas emissions while feeding a growing global population, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released new guidance to help policymakers and industry assess food safety risks linked to emerging climate-mitigation chemicals used in agriculture.

19.01.2026

Indonesia pushes agricultural downstreaming to boost farmers’ income

Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has called on regional governments to accelerate downstreaming of local agricultural commodities - particularly coconuts, cashew nuts, and cocoa - to increase added value and raise farmers’ incomes. 

19.01.2026

Japan struggles to weed out plant threatening agriculture, ecosystems

The seemingly innocuous alligator weed, or Alternanthera philoxeroides, poses a real problem, especially to rice farmers.

19.01.2026

Canada - Kamsack-based Nytro promotes Green Lightning technology

The Green Lightning system uses electricity to convert water into nitrogen-rich fertilizer, with larger units designed to meet the needs of farm operations.

19.01.2026

Ireland - Almost €2.9m issued in farm scheme payments last week

Just under €3 million was issued in various farm scheme payments last week by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

19.01.2026

India - Horticulture Director gave his suggestions in the National Conference of Crop Insurance Scheme

A two-day National Review Conference was held in Bengaluru under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. 

18.01.2026

India - Bihar Launches Online Crop Loss Compensation Scheme: Farmers Can Claim ₹7,500–₹10,000 per Hectare

The Bihar government has announced financial assistance for farmers affected by crop losses under the Bihar State Crop Assistance Scheme. 

18.01.2026

Afghanistan - $30m new cold storage facility opens in Kabul to boost agriculture

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MoAIL) has inaugurated a new cold storage facility in Kabul, saying it will help reduce agricultural waste, cut imports, and strengthen the economy.