A Wilson man has plead guilty to a tobacco insurance scam.
According to officials Dennis Hawley along with other tobacco growers were part of a scheme to defraud crop insurance companies of funds ultimately reimbursed by the government and laundered those proceeds.
Hawley pleded guilty before United States District Judge James C. Dever, III in Raleigh to two counts, charged in a Criminal Information filed on July 16, 2009, of aiding and abetting the making of materially false statements in connection with the Federal Crop Insurance Program, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.
Hawley was an adjuster for ARMtech Insurance. On two separate occasions he falsely declared he did not have a business relationship with any contractor or provider for ARMtech. Hawley then received $28,000 and $10,000 that represented commissions from producer premiums collected as a result of the sale of crop insurance policies.
