The long running saga of Mike and Melissa Stamp continued today in federal court in Grand Rapids. U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced this afternoon that 46 year old Mike Stamp, of Decatur, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit crop insurance fraud. Those convictions arise from acts that occurred while he owned and operated Stamp Farms in the Van Buren County community of Decatur between Dowagiac and Lawrence.
Stamp’s wife, 38-year old Melissa Stamp, entered a guilty plea to “misprision” of a felony for some of her actions in connection with Stamp Farms. Misprision is defined as the deliberate concealment of one’s knowledge of a treasonable act or a felony.
Mike Stamp admitted he fraudulently obtained a $68-million operating loan from Wells Fargo Bank in December of 2011 by misrepresenting the amount of land he farmed and the value of his company’s assets, including harvested grain, fertilizer and fuel. After he obtained the loan, he continued to make misrepresentations to Wells Fargo about his business, including by creating false farmland leases and other documents.
Mike Stamp also admitted that he defrauded the federal crop insurance program by filing false claims, falsifying harvested crop records, and obtaining crop insurance in the names of entities with no insurable interest.
Melissa Stamp admitted that she was aware of Mike Stamp’s fraud, did not report it to authorities, and helped hide money from Wells Fargo and other creditors of Stamp Farms.
Manny Muriel is Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division for the Detroit Field Office. He says, “Bank fraud is a very serious financial crime,” and adds, “Providing false or misleading documents to financial institutions undermines the integrity of our financial system and will not be tolerated.”
Anthony Mohatt, Special Agent-In-Charge, United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, said, “The efforts of the investigative team provide a strong deterrent to those committing fraud against the federal crop insurance program and will help protect the integrity of this program thus ensuring that taxpayer dollars are safeguarded. We will continue to work towards our goal of prosecuting individuals who commit fraud in crop insurance programs.”
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigations and USDA-Office of Inspector General. AUSA Clay Stiffler and former AUSA Mike MacDonald handled the prosecution.
You can read more of the details from the case shared here on Moody on the Market last winter at this link:
https://www.moodyonthemarket.com/six-years-later-decaturs-stamp-farms-fraud-saga-continues/
