Fraud of the Week

December 9, 2019

Crop Fraud — Louisiana

Amount: $18 million

A Louisiana farmer has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after lying to more than seven insurance providers, government entities, and financial institutions in an effort to illegally obtain over $18 million. The farmer used farming entities that either he owned, or was a part of, to certify farming acreage. He applied for crop production and grain loans, farm operating loans, credit from seed and chemical dealers, contract advances, insurance policies and claims, and marketing assistance loans. He lied on many of the necessary applications, understating or overstating the number of crops he had produced, or claiming crops as collateral when he no longer possessed the property. He pleaded guilty and will spend the next 18 years in prison. He will also pay back all of the $18 million that he stole during the course of the scheme.