New Indictment Issued in $46 Million MN Organic Grain Fraud Case
Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - A second Minnesota farmer has been indicted on charges stemming from a $46 million fraud scheme.
The US Attorney for Minnesota says 65-year-old James Wolf and 45-year-old Adam Olson conspired to defraud green purchasers by selling non-GMO grains falsely labeled as organic. The charges allege Wolf cultivated conventional crops using chemical fertilizers and pesticides and provided purchasers with copies of his National Organics Program certification, but never informed his customers that his crops were not organically farmed.
Olson, who is also a certified organic farmer in Cottonwood County, is accused of helping Wolf sell his non-GMO crops by presenting them as organically grown between 2014 and 2021. Both men now face three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. The charges replace a previous indictment issued against Wolf last July.
The investigation that led to the indictments was conducted by the US Department of Agriculture, the FBI, the US Marshals Service, and with assistance from the Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office.