Kent Duane Anderson, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Florida 2021

A Florida man has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for his role in a multi-million dollar wire fraud and money laundering scheme.

Kent Duane Anderson, 50, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after he was found to have defrauded buyers of organic grain products.

Between 2012 and 2018, Anderson owned and operated a business enterprise that exploited the organic grain market. He purchased thousands of tons of small grain and seed products from non-organic suppliers and then re-sold those products as “organic” to wholesale distributors, brokers, and other buyers at marked-up prices.

Anderson carried out his fraud through a group of inter-related business entities formed in South Dakota, which he directed and controlled. These business entities included the Bar Two Bar Ranch and Green Leaf Resources Inc., and four other businesses with the Green Leaf name.

The sales transactions often originated in Florida, where Anderson’s business entities operated, with buyers located in other states, including, Minnesota and Illinois, and thus, caused electronic wire communications between those states. Other interstate electronic wire transmissions occurred when his business entities received payment via electronic transfer of funds.

Anderson was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $15,311,927.00, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.

He has been allowed to self-report to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by March 15, 2021.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/florida-man-sentenced-conspiracy-commit-wire-fraud-and-money-laundering