Becker Man Ordered to Pay 1.4 Million for Farm Loan Fraud

ST. PAUL -- A Becker man has been sentenced to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution and serve community service after defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2017 and 2018.

Court documents show 67-year-old Robert Anderson used false statements to obtain five Commodity Credit Corporation loans through a loan program administered by the Farm Service Agency.

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In late 2018, the FSA conducted a spot check and discovered bins of corn Anderson had pledged as collateral for three of the loans were almost empty.

He had sold the corn under a family member's name.

He also obtained two fraudulent loans in the names of family members for which the collateral grain never existed.

Anderson was sentenced to pay $1.4 million, serve 150 hours of community service, and three years of probation.