Brad A. McIntyre, 35, of Bastrop, La., was sentenced on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, five counts of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering related to engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity via farm fraud. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency. The court also ordered him to pay a $1.6 million money judgment of forfeiture after finding McIntyre guilty in a federal jury trial that ended July 21, 2017.

Questions:
1. Briefly describe Mr. McIntyre’s fraud scheme.
2. How long did the scheme last and how does that compare to the average fraud scheme as noted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners?
3. How was McIntyre’s scheme identified?
4. By setting up these fake farms, what internal control of the government was he trying to avoid?

Sources:

Brown, H.C. (2017). Louisiana man found guilty of using fake farms to steal $1.6 million from USDA. The New Food Economy, July 25 (Retrievable online at https://newfoodeconomy.org/man-found-guilty-stealing-1-3-million-usda-using-fake-farms/)

U.S. Department of Justice Staff. (2017). Bastrop man sentenced to 9 years in prison for defrauding USDA over fake farm benefit scheme. U.S. DOJ, Dec. 19 (Retrievable online at https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/pr/bastrop-man-sentenced-9-years-prison-defrauding-usda-over-fake-farm-benefit-scheme)