Tabor City man admits to crop insurance fraud scheme

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — A Columbus County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a farm scheme that made him $1 million.

United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker said Milton Russ Barnhill, of Tabor City, entered guilty pleas to all pending counts against him right after jury selection for his trial. He admitted to bank fraud, falsifying crop insurance claims, and money laundering.

Investigators said Barnhill conspired with others to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and the Farm Service Agency by producing and selling crops under false names then claiming that natural disasters had killed them. They added that Barnhill also committed mail fraud that resulted in the Horry County State Bank paying out about $450,000 in fraudulent loan proceeds. In fact, investigators said Barnhill supplied a fictitious tobacco sales contract to the Horry County State Bank as collateral for a farm operating loan.

In all, investigators said more than $1 million went into Barnhill’s bank account. They said he derived it all from hidden crop production, underreported crop production, and overstated crop acreages.

He faces more than 30 years in prison when he’s sentenced.