Rubashkin's Former Controller Says Rubashkin Ran An Elaborate Scheme To Defraud Bank

Controller also says field reviews done by bank were not thorough.

Former officers testifies about fraud at Agriprocessors plant
GRANT SCHULTE • DES MOINES REGISTER

A former top officer at the financially ruined Agriprocessors Inc. described a culture of fraud at the plant and poor oversight by its lender Thursday as he testified against his old boss.

Yomtov “Toby” Bensasson, the self-proclaimed “traffic cop” of the meat plant’s accounting department, said former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin, who is on trial for financial fraud, oversaw an elaborate plot to route profits into his company instead of the bank where money was supposed to go.

The former slaughterhouse controller told federal jurors that field audits conducted by First Bank Business Capital - the plant’s lender - were not as detailed as reviews he would have done.

The statement came in response to a question by Rubashkin’s lawyer about whether the reviews were thorough.

“By my standard, no,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done them that way.”

Rubashkin has pleaded not guilty to 91 financial fraud charges including mail, wire and bank fraud, money laundering and failing to pay livestock providers in the time required by law.