Central New York fraud case spotlights crop insurance crime
The U.S. GAO has reported that the federal crop insurance program is historically vulnerable to, "fraud, waste and abuse."
A central New York State man who filed crop insurance loss claims based on fields he never sowed pled guilty recently to three counts of fraud, according to a May 31, 2023, statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
Authorities said that Craig Spofford, 48, of Dolgeville, New York admitted to fraudulently obtaining $179,051 in crop insurance benefits from Rural Community Insurance Services, a company that is reinsured by the federal government’s crop insurance program.
Spofford claimed to lease and organically plant crops on three separate parcels totaling more than 500 acres in Herkimer County, the government said. In fact, the defendant never secured the land nor planted it. Spofford then falsely claimed to suffer losses on those fictitious crops.
The federal crop insurance program has been vulnerable to fraud in the past, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That agency reported in 2005 that the program lost an estimated $117 million that year to, “fraud, waste and abuse.”
The U.S. Department of Justice also maintains a lengthy list of individuals who have been successfully prosecuted for crop insurance fraud.
Once convicted, Spofford’s charges each carry a maximum term of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 5 years. Spofford is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2023.
As part of his plea agreement, Spofford agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $179,051 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Risk Management Agency.
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