Missouri reality TV star farmer pleads guilty to multi-million dollar crop insurance fraud
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Daviess County man whose family farming operation stars in a reality TV show pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a multi-million dollar insurance fraud scheme.
Steve A. McBee, a 52-year-old man from Gallatin, Missouri, who stars in the reality TV series “The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys,” pleaded guilty to one count of federal crop insurance fraud.
By pleading guilty, McBee itted he engaged in fraudulent activity from 2018 to 2020 that caused an economic loss to the U.S. Department of Agriculture of more than $4 million.
Court documents said McBee itted he made a false report to Rain and Hail, a company insured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. The submitted fraudulent documents underreported his total 2018 corn crop by approximately 674,812 bushels and underreported his total 2018 soybean crop by approximately 155,833 bushels.
The false reports led McBee to receive more than $2.6 million in federal crop insurance benefits he shouldn’t have claimed, along with more than $500,000 in federal crop insurance subsidies.
READ MORE: TV show follows the lives of Missouri farmers
In addition to that specific felony charge he pled guilty to, McBee also said he committed additional fraud in 2019 and 2020.
McBee is subject to a sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole under federal statutes.
In April, McBee told KCTV his reality show was about his impending decision of which of his four sons to hand over control of his business to.
“I feel like this is probably the most realistic reality show out today on the market,” Steve McBee said ahead of the show’s premiere on Peacock.
KCTV reported there is also a lot of debt that comes with ownership as well. Whoever takes over the farm was set to oversee $50 million in debt while racing to secure a $100 million deal with a venture capital firm.
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