Decatur Farmer Grows A $23 Million Lie

A Decatur farmer should probably study how to grow weed while he's spending his 8 years (and an additional 5 years for a second charge) in prison for bank fraud and false statements to a farming insurance company because he's going to need to make a lot of money to pay some hefty restitutions.

In September Michael David Stamp plead guilty to the charges and was sentenced earlier today. Not only did he get the jail time but he was also ordered to pay $23 million in restitutions. That's a lot of jack to pay back.

The IRS isn't fond of lies and fraud...

 

“Today’s sentence should serve as a reminder that defrauding public programs and providing false or misleading documents to financial institutions are serious crimes that undermine our financial system and will not be tolerated,” Sarah Kull, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigations, said in a statement.

Melissa Stamp (wife of Mike Stamp) was also involved but charges against her were dismissed as part of their plea deal she and Michael took.

 

“Mike Stamp desperately wanted to own the largest farming operation in Michigan and be ‘Top Producer of the Year,’ so he lied, cheated, and stole to get there,” the government stated in Stamp’s sentencing memorandum. “He defrauded a succession of banks to get larger and larger lines of credit to pay for farmland, ultimately engaging in a massive fraud to obtain a $68 million line of credit from Wells Fargo Bank. “He also lied to get more than $5 million in taxpayer-funded farm benefits. He stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Stamp Farms and used it for his own personal gain. And when it all came crashing down, he lied in bankruptcy to hide his crimes and conceal assets from his creditors, many of whom were his business associates and neighbors.” - MLIVE

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