Home / Crime and Justice / Iowa Farmer's $1.7M Fraud Scheme Ends in 13 Years Prison
Iowa Farmer's $1.7M Fraud Scheme Ends in 13 Years Prison
12 Apr
Summary
- Farmer sentenced to 13 years for stealing $1.7M in subsidies.
- Fraud included identity theft, crop insurance scams, and stalking.
- Stolen funds were used for personal trips and farm expenses.
Tanner Seuntjens, 33, of Danbury, Iowa, received a 13-year federal prison sentence on April 9, 2026, for a wide-ranging fraud scheme. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges including theft of government funds, aggravated identity theft, crop insurance fraud, and stalking.
Between June 2020 and June 2021, Seuntjens defrauded the USDA of over $1.5 million in Coronavirus Food Assistance Program funds by falsely claiming ownership of thousands of swine and forging signatures. He also defrauded a South Dakota bank of over $400,000 in collateral between March 2021 and April 2022, using funds for personal trips and cash withdrawals.
Further fraudulent activities included crop insurance fraud in 2022 and 2023, where he underreported yields to steal $175,000. He also defrauded agricultural suppliers and sold property in others' names. Seuntjens committed stalking offenses, even with no-contact orders, and assaulted a witness.
His criminal history includes prior theft convictions. Seuntjens was ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution to the USDA and will serve a five-year term of supervised release.
