Details:
More fed charges against Agriprocessors exec
GRANT SCHULTE
A former executive at Postville’s kosher meat plant has been indicted on 99 additional federal charges that include money laundering, making false statements and failing to pay for livestock in the time required by law.
The new allegations against Sholom Rubashkin follow a series of federal bank-fraud and immigration charges filed last year. A federal grand jury on Thursday also indicted the 49-year-old on 25 additional bank-fraud charges.
“Mr. Rubashkin denies all 99 charges,” said defense lawyer Guy Cook, of Des Moines. “I would also say that these new indictments are only accusations, they’re proof of nothing. He is presumed innocent, and is indeed innocent unless the government can prove its case.”
The indictment also names Agriprocessors, Inc. and former managers Brent Beebe, Hosam Amara and Zeev Levi as defendants.
Agriprocessors was the subject of a major immigration raid in May 2008 that led to the mass arrest of illegal immigrant workers and charges against top company executives. Rubashkin, his father and several human resources workers also face state-level allegations that they violated child labor laws.
Prosecutors allege that Rubashkin conspired to harbor undocumented immigrants by paying some in cash. In other cases, plant managers allegedly would cut checks to a church that would then cash the payments for the workers.
Rubashkin and Amara also allegedly placed illegal workers on the payroll of a separate company, identified in court records as “H.E.,” when in fact they worked in the plant’s poultry department. All of the managers encouraged the workers to obtain false work papers, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors allege that Rubashkin used two separate organizations under his control – the Kosher Community Grocery Store in Postville, and the Torah Education Program of Northeast Iowa – to mislead his lender so he could receive advances on a revolving $35 million loan.
Rubashkin allegedly ordered workers in the plant’s accounting department to write checks to Agriprocessors from the kosher grocery store and educational group he controlled, to make it appear as though they were customer payments. The payments were then allegedly used to justify loan advances from First Bank Business Capital. The false payments totaled $20.2 million between August 2007 and March 2008, according to court records.
Agriprocessors and Rubashkin also face 20 counts of violating an order by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Prosecutors charge that Agriprocessors was several late in paying for livestock shipments in early 2008, despite a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that requires payment by the end of the next business day.
Prosecutors charged Amara with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution because he allegedly escaped to Israel in June 2008 and remains at large.
Rubashkin remains jailed in Dubuque on earlier bank-fraud and immigration-related charges. His trial is set for Sept 8 in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.
Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, said his office will issue a press release later today.
UPDATE 1:00 PM 1-16-09: Read the entire 37 page indictment.
Rubashkin and Agriprocessors actually were charged with 87 new charges today for a total of 99 federal charges. Rubashkin faces hundreds of years of prison time.
[Hat Tip: Sam.]