Les Jones

East Tennessee > Crop Insurance Fraud in Cocke County, TN

The Warren family staged photos to show hail, then had a worker thrash their 16,000 tomato plants to simulate hail damage in order to collect insurance. From an NPR report via Outside the Beltway.

The government is so generous with crop insurance that it subsidizes farmers' premiums. Edwards says the USDA paid the Warrens more than $2 million to help them insure their tomatoes. He compares it to the following hypothetical situation: "Every year a bank gets robbed and they notice the bank robber is using an old getaway car and they ask, 'Would you like a car loan to have a nicer getaway car next year when you come to rob us?' Because the government is subsidizing the farmer's ability to defraud us for the coming season."

Bobby Chambers testified for the government and got two years probation for his role in the scheme. The adjustor and the insurance agent have been convicted, but not yet sentenced. Robert and Vicki Warren each received some six years in federal prison.