A news release earlier this week from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky stated, “According to court records unsealed today, a Paris, Ky. man was indicted on March 1, 2018, and charged with crop insurance fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering-related offenses.
“A federal grand jury in Lexington returned the indictment charging 46-year-old Ronnie Jolly with one count of conspiring to violate federal law, six counts of making false statements to influence the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (‘FCIC’) and companies the FCIC reinsures, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 21 counts of money laundering, and one count of structuring currency transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
“The indictment alleges that Jolly, an agricultural producer of tobacco, corn, and soybeans in Bath, Bourbon, Fleming, Montgomery, and Scott Counties, hid his crop production from his insurance company, in order to claim damage to his crop sufficient to trigger crop insurance indemnity payments, which are funded by the federal government through the FCIC. The indictment alleges that he also obtained crop insurance policies, in the names of his employees, for crops that he produced. The indictment alleges this was designed to avoid federal government scrutiny over his claims of crop damage, because he spread the damage amongst several producers. Similarly, the indictment alleges that Jolly obtained private crop insurance policies in the names of others.”
The news release noted that, “According to the indictment, Jolly used the proceeds from crop insurance indemnity checks and fraudulent crop sales to make at least 21 bank transactions, in violation of federal money laundering statutes. He is also alleged to have withdrawn $9,500 in cash from his bank accounts, on four consecutive days, in an effort to avoid federal bank reporting requirements.”
