A Nicholas County farmer has collected a million dollars for failed crops since 1999.
However, she is also collecting $1,100 a month for food stamps.
She is one of several people federal agents are questioning after a huge raid in Mount Sterling last week.
There are 400 pages of allegations that an insurance agent, a tobacco warehouse owner and several farmers defrauded the government and insurance companies out of millions of dollars.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
Roger Wilson is a mild mannered, white haired man who has operated a tobacco warehouse and farm retail business for decades. When the federal agents left his warehouse last week, he told LEX 18 he had no idea why the feds came knocking.
Allegations outlined in a federal search warrant uncovered by LEX 18 Investigates claim Wilson laundered millions through his warehouse and farm retail business. Starting in 2009, he withdrew 4 and half million dollars in cash, all of the transactions were under $10,000 to avoid federal reporting rules.
The web woven by the farmers and Wilson also included the Ohio Valley Insurance Agency in Mount Sterling. The agency is owned by Michael McNew and his wife. McNew is alleged to have accepted payments from farmers for a “favorable” insurance adjustment.
Federal court records indicate at least one farmer received $68,000 for a crop that was never planted. That same farmer also planted a failed tobacco crop tens years in a row. The policies were in his daughter’s name; she has collected a million dollars in crop insurance money since 1999. In 2014, she collected $459,000 for 178 acres of a failed tobacco crop. This is the same person we told who is receiving $1,100 a month in food stamps.
No one has been charged yet…LEX 18 Investigates has been told federal agents and the US district attorney’s office are just getting started.
