Colo. Farms Ordered to Surrender Records in Insurance Investigation
Three San Luis Valley, Colo., farms have been ordered to turn over records to a federal investigator looking into whether they illegally sold potatoes after collecting up to $1.3 million in federal insurance payments on the same crop.
U.S. District Judge John Kane last week ordered Bigelow Associated Farms Inc., JB Farms and Ken Burback to submit the information to Department of Agriculture investigators by Oct. 22.
The department claimed the growers had repeatedly ignored subpoenas seeking the documents.
In a court filing, Sharon Johnson, an investigator for the USDA’s inspector general, said the department suspects the growers sold potatoes they had claimed as a loss.
“If true, this would indicate a violation” of federal law against submitting false claims for the crop insurance program, Johnson wrote.
The USDA filing said Bigelow Associated Farms and JB Farms are owned by Boyd and Janet Bigelow. No one answered telephones listed for the Bigelows or Burback.
- Jury Awards $80M to 3 Former Zurich NA Employees for Wrongful Termination
- California Chiropractor Sentenced to 54 Years for $150M Workers’ Comp Scheme
- EVs Head for Junkyard as Mechanic Shortage Inflates Repair Costs
- 4,800 Claims Handled by Unlicensed Adjusters in Florida After Irma, Lawsuit Says
- Mother of 8-Year-Old ‘Violently Sucked’ into Houston Hotel Pool Files Wrongful Death Suit
- California Sees Two More Property Insurers Withdraw From Market
- Millions of Recalled Hyundai and Kia Vehicles, With Dangerous Defect, Remain on Road
- Poll: Consumers OK with AI in P/C Insurance, but Not So Much for Claims and Underwriting