Farm Couple Convicted for a Massive Insurance Fraud of $9 Million; Deets Here
Couple steered $9 million farm crime
A husband and wife steered a fraud of $9 million in farm crime. Robert and Vicki Warren were owners of R&V Warren Farms, which was one of the largest tomato-growing farms in the eastern U.S., per NPR. The criminal couple filed fake crop damage reports and claimed insurance for something that never happened.
In 2004, they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. Viki Warren also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the FCIC and mail fraud. The lawyer who was associated with this case said that the couple threw ice cubes, beat the plants with sticks, and photographed the results in an attempt to claim the money for the damages. They planned everything to try and show that the plants were damaged from a hail storm.
Judge Lacy Thornburg sentenced Robert Warren to 76 months in prison while Vicky Warren received 66 months. The couple was also ordered to forfeit $7.3 million in assets and also had to pay $9 million in restitution.
What did the tomato farm owners do?
As we know they faked a hailstorm and claimed the insurance money. But that's not all that they did, they also faked yield data and manipulated the planting dates. For example, back in 1997, he planted his Spartanburg, S.C. farm on April 15, which is the first day allowed by his policy. However, he later told the truth that he had planted the crops on April 4.
He had 10 farms out of which he has claimed losses in five of the farms. Also, their numbers were pretty delusional. They said they had a total harvest of 293,077 boxes while growing roughly 500,000 boxes.
The defrauding team
The couple received $644,467 after defrauding and claiming the money. “The Warren Farms investigation is the mother of all crop fraud investigations,” said Gretchen Shappert back in 2005.
Geroge Kiser, who owned the Kiser$Kiser Agency in Lebanon sold the Warrens crop policies from Rain&Hail and E.L Ross and showed them the ropes of insurance fraud, and also advised the couple on how to receive the payments. They also had Demetrio Jaimes who was the farm manager and signed all the false documents and the weather disaster. Harold Dean Cole forged the records for Warren as a farm employee and there was also Thomas Marsh who was adjusting the the insurance copies.
"They were submitting reports to insurance companies from farms that would go in and out of existence by the year," the lawyer notes. "They fudged the serial numbers and kept it all unclear."
Stinging indictment
The grand jury dropped their indictment in the year 2003 which was filled with the details of the con. According to DOJ, "The indictment charged the Warrens, as well as two of their employees, an insurance agent, and an insurance adjuster, with participating in an extensive scheme to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and several private insurance companies of more than $9 million between 1997 and 2001, and attempting to obtain an additional $2.8 million in 2001 through 2003."
After there was a flood of evidence, they were forced to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the federal crop insurance corporation. According to an IRS agent, there was a musty, cold, and aluminum-wrapped bunch of money. "The currency that Robert Warren deposited fit with our speculation during the crop insurance case." The agents also realized that the couple was buying property every year. Today, almost after 3 decades, the case is closed and both Warren and Vicki have been convicted.