DES MOINES, IA – On January 20, 2017, Donald Lynn Embree, 55, of Waukee, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger to 15 months in prison for three counts of false statements for the overvaluation of securities, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Embree was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, pay $300 to the Crime Victims’ Fund, and pay a total of $321,927.13 to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) as restitution.
Embree pleaded guilty to these charges on September 22, 2016. According to the plea agreement, Embree obtained three loans from the Commodity Credit Corporation in March of 2015 by falsely certifying the existence of collateral. The Commodity Credit Corporation is an agency within the USDA that makes agricultural loans, which are administered by the FSA. Embree’s grain, bushels of corn and soybeans, served as collateral for these loans.
Embree certified the bushels of grain were eligible to be pledged as collateral for the loans, that the quantity was in existence and stored in bins on his property, and that he retained control of the grain. However, Embree had sold much of the grain prior to March of 2015, and did not have the collateral to pledge to the Corporation.
This matter was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
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Learn more about this release by contacting Rachel Scherle at 515-473-9300 or by emailing her at Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov