Kentucky farmer admits selling crops in other people’s names as part of insurance fraud
A Kentucky farmer has admitted selling crops in other people’s names so he could hide production and get bigger insurance payments.
Robert Thomas Hunt, of Taylor County, pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge of making false reports on insurance applications.
According to the charge, Hunt claimed losses on crops of soybeans and corn between 2015 and 2021, as well as one crop of wheat.
The policies required reporting all production, but Hunt told grain haulers to sell his crops under the names of his two children, his wife and a landowner, according to his plea.
That hid Hunt’s true production and allowed him to get higher insurance payouts, according to the plea.
Hunt used different addresses for his children to help conceal his sales, the document said.
The total insurance loss for the seven years covered in the charge was $1,494,054.
Hunt’s plea includes an agreement to repay that amount to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, but Hunt’s sentence will likely be much shorter under federal guidelines.
Chief U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers scheduled Hunt to be sentenced in June.
Federal authorities have obtained criminal charges against more than 30 people since 2017 in an investigation of crop-insurance fraud in Kentucky, most involving tobacco crops.
