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Michigan farmer settles in FSA fraud case

A Michigan farmer has agreed to pay a $1.2 million settlement for fraudulent crop insurance and farm program claims.

In 2021, a federal lawsuit against Gaylord D. Lincoln and G. Lincoln Farms, LLC, in Springport alleged the farm defrauded USDA’s Farm Service Agency by using employee names on crop insurance policies.

In a separate settlement earlier this year, the farm’s crop insurance company, Silveus Insurance Group, Inc., and its Chief Executive Officer, James Cameron Silveus, in Warsaw, Indiana, paid $500,000 for violating the False Claims Act.  The insurance company also agreed to be monitored by the Risk Management Agency for one year and the CEO voluntarily excluded themselves from programs through March 2023.