Page 72 - issue
P. 72
OBAMA SHOULD PARDON Yet evidence that the prosecutors hid
THIS IOWA FOOD EXECUTIVE and that Mr. Rubashkin’s attorneys
found over the past few years proves
by Charles B. Renfrew and ed immigrants. This led the company that the prosecutors stymied the bank-
ruptcy trustee from making a sale to
OJames H. Reynolds to file for bankruptcy several months prospective buyers at a reasonable
price. Instead, they warned that buyers
Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2016 later. would forfeit the business if any mem-
ne of the Roman poet Juvenal’s ber of the Rubashkin family main-
best-known lines is quis custodi- Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rubashkin tained a connection to the firm,
et ipsos custodies. Who will although no other family member had
watch the watchers? Some 2,000 was arrested by federal officials and been charged.
years later, this question is espe-
charged with fraud in the U.S. District Moreover, the Rubashkins’ involve-
cially relevant for America’s criminal- ment was a critical part of
justice system, given the power wielded Court, where one of us formerly served. Agriprocessors’ value. The Orthodox
by federal prosecutors. Too often, their Jewish family – especially Sholom’s
profound authority leads to significant The government alleged that he illegal- father, the company’s founder – had
abuse, as demonstrated by the case of significant institutional knowledge and
Sholom Rubashkin. ly shifted money that should have been expertise in the kosher food-processing
business. Absent the family’s know-
Mr. Rubashkin, a 57-year-old father deposited as collateral for a loan from how, the company became significantly
of 10, is the former vice-president of less attractive to buyers.
Agriprocessors, a kosher food proces- the St. Louis-based First Bank.
sor based in Postville, Iowa. On May 12, The prosecutors achieved their
2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Although Mr. Rubashkin was con- intended goal. Nine prospective bidders
Enforcement agents raided the compa- walked away from the sale – including
ny’s plant and arrested hundreds of the victed, he did not intend to cause any one that had offered $40 million. The
firm’s workers who were undocument- business was sold for $8.5 million, a
loss to the bank. But the federal prose- fraction of its actual worth, ensuring
cutors who charged him wanted to
extract a pound of flesh, and then
some – even at the cost of illegally over-
stepping their bounds and interfering
in the bankrupt company’s sale.
As part of its bankruptcy filing, inde-
pendent assessors valued
Agriprocessors’ assets at $68.6 million.
68 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
THIS IOWA FOOD EXECUTIVE and that Mr. Rubashkin’s attorneys
found over the past few years proves
by Charles B. Renfrew and ed immigrants. This led the company that the prosecutors stymied the bank-
ruptcy trustee from making a sale to
OJames H. Reynolds to file for bankruptcy several months prospective buyers at a reasonable
price. Instead, they warned that buyers
Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2016 later. would forfeit the business if any mem-
ne of the Roman poet Juvenal’s ber of the Rubashkin family main-
best-known lines is quis custodi- Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rubashkin tained a connection to the firm,
et ipsos custodies. Who will although no other family member had
watch the watchers? Some 2,000 was arrested by federal officials and been charged.
years later, this question is espe-
charged with fraud in the U.S. District Moreover, the Rubashkins’ involve-
cially relevant for America’s criminal- ment was a critical part of
justice system, given the power wielded Court, where one of us formerly served. Agriprocessors’ value. The Orthodox
by federal prosecutors. Too often, their Jewish family – especially Sholom’s
profound authority leads to significant The government alleged that he illegal- father, the company’s founder – had
abuse, as demonstrated by the case of significant institutional knowledge and
Sholom Rubashkin. ly shifted money that should have been expertise in the kosher food-processing
business. Absent the family’s know-
Mr. Rubashkin, a 57-year-old father deposited as collateral for a loan from how, the company became significantly
of 10, is the former vice-president of less attractive to buyers.
Agriprocessors, a kosher food proces- the St. Louis-based First Bank.
sor based in Postville, Iowa. On May 12, The prosecutors achieved their
2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Although Mr. Rubashkin was con- intended goal. Nine prospective bidders
Enforcement agents raided the compa- walked away from the sale – including
ny’s plant and arrested hundreds of the victed, he did not intend to cause any one that had offered $40 million. The
firm’s workers who were undocument- business was sold for $8.5 million, a
loss to the bank. But the federal prose- fraction of its actual worth, ensuring
cutors who charged him wanted to
extract a pound of flesh, and then
some – even at the cost of illegally over-
stepping their bounds and interfering
in the bankrupt company’s sale.
As part of its bankruptcy filing, inde-
pendent assessors valued
Agriprocessors’ assets at $68.6 million.
68 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
