A farmer from Kansas pleaded guilty to both bankruptcy fraud and federal crop insurance fraud earlier this week.
Kevin W. Struss, 63, of Wakeeney, KS defrauded the US Department of Agriculture’s crop insurance program by falsifying reports of harvested corn and sorghum/milo bushels in 2015, reducing their count by 54,732. By falsifying the reports, Struss managed to claim crop insurance payments.
Prosecutors additionally allege that Struss also underreported his harvest in 2016 and 2017.
Struss filed for bankruptcy in 2018; he misleadingly answered “no” when asked about whether he had transferred property to anyone else at the time. But it was revealed that less than three months before the insolvency filing he transferred $470,000 worth of property to another party.
Prosecutors are seeking over $2.1 million in restitution from Struss.
Kansas City Business Journal reported that his sentencing is scheduled for January 15, 2020. Strauss potentially faces up to 30 years in federal prison, as well as a $1 million fine for crop insurance fraud. He also faces a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000 for his bankruptcy count.
