⏱ 2 min read
A Kansas farmer got caught faking storm damage to his crops, scamming the US government out of $541,645. David Mongeau, 54, of Holcomb, pleaded guilty to crop insurance fraud and bank fraud in a Wichita federal court.
Mongeau owned Mongeau Enterprises, a farming operation in western Kansas. In 2019, he got a crop insurance policy through the USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Program, but in January 2020, he submitted a false claim saying his corn crop in Rooks County was destroyed by hail and excess wind.
What he didn’t tell the USDA was that he had already sold over 33,000 bushels of corn to commodity traders. The sales included corn he claimed was lost in the storm. As a result, Mongeau got an overpayment, causing $241,645 in losses for the FCIP.
But that wasn’t all – Mongeau also used the same scheme to scam over $300,000 from First National Bank of Syracuse (now Dream First Bank of Garden City) by trading in or selling collateral and not telling the bank.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Defendant: Kansas
- Location: KS
- Source: DOJ Press Release
