A Two Thousand Dollar Nebraska Land Purchase Leads to a Federal Fraud Case
Duca looked around the concrete apron of the station, then stepped closer to the pump. His face was weathered and dark from forty years of working cattle in the Platte valley.
“I was over at the grain elevator in Hershey this morning,” Mr. Duca said, his voice dropping. “Brinley Fairmont was in the office talking to the manager, young Miller.”
I stopped the nozzle.
“What was she telling him?” I asked.
“She told him your land was under a federal environmental hold,” Mr. Duca said. “She said if the elevator accepts any grain from your parcel, they could be held liable for chemical contamination under the clean water act.”
The wind rattled the plastic sign above the pumps, making a dry, slapping sound against the steel poles.
“Miller is twenty-eight years old, Arthur,” Mr. Duca said. “He does not want any trouble with the state inspectors. He told her they would have to see a clean certificate before they could let your trucks on the scale.”
“I do not have any contaminated grain,” I said. “I have twenty bags of certified wheat seed sitting in my machine shed.”
