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A North Carolina man has been accused of stealing more than $5 million in federal crop insurance funds.
James Scott Wiggins, 43, has been charged with making false statements to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, making material false statements to the Farm Service Agency, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Authorities said Wiggins and others conspired to defraud the government by filing phony crop insurance claims and false federal crop disaster relief claims. Wiggins and his co-conspirators allegedly structured transactions to evade reporting requirements.
The conspirators owned and rented farmland in several North Carolina counties and produced, among other crops, tobacco, corn, wheat and soybeans. US Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. alleged that Wiggins and his co-conspirators hid some or all of their tobacco and grain productions by selling it under nominee names or for cash to co-conspiring warehousemen and dealers. They allegedly profited by getting paid twice for each pound of tobacco or bushel of grain: once through the sale of the hidden crop, and once through a fraudulent insurance claim.
Between 2007 and 2011, Wiggins and his co-conspirators allegedly filed false insurance claims in excess of $5.6 million. Wiggins also allegedly submitted phony production data in connection with a federal crop disaster claim, receiving disaster relief money to which he wasn’t entitled.
“Put very simply, this defendant stole more than $5 million from the taxpayers of this state and this country,” Higdon said. “This type of crime is what undermines the solvency of our federal programs and deprives those who need the funds of that support.”
The charges against Wiggins stem from an ongoing crop insurance fraud investigation in the Eastern District of North Carolina. So far, the US Attorney’s Office has prosecuted 47 other farmers, agents and adjusters in the sweep.
