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Fresno County Woman Arrested for over $790,000 in Crop Insurance Fraud
justice.gov ^ | March 10, 2021 | U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California

Posted on 03/15/2021 1:50:54 PM PDT by ransomnote

FRESNO, Calif. — On March 10, 2021, Jatinderieet “Jyoti” Sihota, 34, of Selma, was arrested on a federal indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud for the submission of over $790,000 in fraudulent crop insurance claims, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The indictment was unsealed today following her arrest.

According to court records, from at least November 2013 through September 2016, Sihota controlled her family’s farms in Fresno and Tulare Counties that produced table grapes, plums, and other crops. The crops were sold through fruit brokers in California’s Central Valley to supermarket chains and other third-party buyers.

Throughout this period, Sihota and others caused her family’s farms to obtain federally backed crop insurance policies through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency’s Federal Crop Insurance Program. They then submitted fraudulent insurance claims for crop losses due to excessive heat, rain, and other reasons that did not actually occur.

Sihota and others, including individuals at the produce brokers through which the crops were sold, altered records to misrepresent the varieties, quantities, and other information regarding the crops that were sold and submitted the records to the insurance program to support the fraudulent claims. These misrepresentations established sufficient crop losses to obtain insurance payments. When the insurance loss adjusters contacted Sihota and others to confirm the accuracy of the representations, they confirmed that the representations were accurate and complete, but in actuality, they were not.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General and the USDA Management Agency’s Special Investigations Staff. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Sihota faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the conspiracy and mail fraud charges. Any sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider several variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Attachment(s): 
Topic(s): 
Financial Fraud
Component(s): 
Press Release Number: 
1:21-cr-053


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: california; fresnocounty; jatinderieetsihota; josephbarton; qanon; qdidit; tularecounty; usda

1 posted on 03/15/2021 1:50:54 PM PDT by ransomnote
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To: ransomnote

Sounds like a great cabbage harvest to me!


2 posted on 03/15/2021 1:54:14 PM PDT by G Larry (Authority is vested in those to whom it applies.)
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To: ransomnote

Despite her being ‘caught,’ it really portrays just how screwed up and inept the system is that she actually got her hands on nearly 800K........before getting ‘caught’.


3 posted on 03/15/2021 1:55:41 PM PDT by cranked
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To: ransomnote

Good chance the claim adjuster(s) might be in on it too. That person has to investigate any insurance loss and provide equitable evidence. The possibility of kick backs should be investigated.


4 posted on 03/15/2021 2:07:28 PM PDT by Son-Joshua (son-joshua)
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To: ransomnote

She’s a piker. The big money works for Biden.


5 posted on 03/15/2021 2:13:54 PM PDT by Fai Mao (Hillary Clinton =The Pig In A Pantsuit (The PIAPS))
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To: ransomnote

I like it when evildoers have their assets impounded.


6 posted on 03/15/2021 2:54:29 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: ransomnote

Jyoti” Sihota I give up it’s not an Irish name what is it?.


7 posted on 03/15/2021 3:36:21 PM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: ransomnote

Jatinderieet “Jyoti” Sihota?

Another wonderful import?


8 posted on 03/15/2021 4:48:56 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: ransomnote

California , a cornucopia of corruption .. a fruition in the loosest sense of the word run by a bunch of nuts and supported by a bunch of saps&suckers for a dream.


9 posted on 03/15/2021 8:32:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!! In CONgre$$ WE're Disgusted!! NMP!)
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To: bagster

Do you know her?


10 posted on 03/15/2021 8:40:10 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (The veil of civilization is only 9 meals thick. )
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
I do not.

She sounds like some kinda furrener, though.


11 posted on 03/15/2021 9:49:43 PM PDT by bagster ("Even bad men love their mamas.")
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