Federal investigators have uncovered the largest crop insurance fraud ring in the country in eastern North Carolina. So far, the massive scheme involves dozens of agents, claims adjusters, brokers and farmers, who have stolen an estimated $100 million, according to the AP.
Forty-one defendants have either pleaded guilty or reached a plea agreement, according to the AP. False insurance claims for tobacco, soybean, wheat and corn losses were filed by farmers using aliases. In cases where crops were not damaged at all, farmers profited directly from sales of written-off harvests.
Initial prosecutions led to participants implicating still more individuals to investigate. Honest farmers are hurt by fraud because it causes premiums to go up.
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