A federal jury found an Albany farmer innocent on eight counts of loan application fraud August 28.
A Kansas City, Missouri grand jury originally indicted 60 old Ryan Ruckman on the eight counts in February. He was accused of defrauding the government $800,000 through loan applications.
Ruckman owned and operated farms in the Missouri counties of Gentry, Daviess, Harrison, Nodaway, and Worth as well as southern counties in Iowa.
The indictment alleged that he defrauded the government by using his son’s name to claim federal benefits in order to receive additional payments from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The indictment also alleged Ruckman used the proceeds of the fraud scheme to make payments on about 2.9 million dollars in farm operating loans at Midstates Bank in Harlan, Iowa.
Ruckman could have been forced to forfeit any property obtained from the proceeds of the alleged fraud to the government if the federal jury had found him guilty.
