Thread: Lender forecloses on Agriprocessors

Updated October 31. 2008 3:07PM
Lender forecloses on AgriprocessorsBy Dave DeWitte

The Gazette
dave.dewitte@gazettecommunications.com


Related Story: Iowa firm pulls 450 workers from Agriprocessors

CEDAR RAPIDS - A major lender has foreclosed on Agriprocessors and its owners, asking that a receiver be appointed to take control of the embattled kosher meat supplier.

The action Thursday by First Bank Business Capital of St. Louis seeks to foreclose on $33.5 million in loans.

Agriprocessors was the nation's largest kosher beef processor until an immigration raid last summer resulted in the detention of much of its work force. It has since faced a stinging series of legal charges over issues ranging from use of child labor to violations of wage laws.

First Bank asks the company to be placed in the hands of a receiver, Atec Liquidation of St. Louis.

In support of the request, the bank says the borrowers "have repeatedly made misrepresentations to First Bank by providing inaccurate and misleading notices of borrowing and other documents that misstated the value of the collateral."

It said officers of Agriprocessors have admitted to diverting funds constituting First Bank's collateral to an account they maintained at Luana Savings Bank in Luana.

It says the bank notified the company, and owners Aaron Rubashkin and Sholom Rubashkin on Wednesday that the company is in default.

Agriprocessors spokesman Chaim Abrahams said Friday afternoon declined to comment on the foreclosure, saying the company's owners are still analyzing it.

The foreclosure calls into question the continued operation of Agriprocessors by the founding Rubashkin family. Owners Abraham Rubashkin and Sholom Rubashkin are individually named in the lawsuit as officers of the company who signed personal guarantees of some of the loans.

A hearing on the request for a receiver was scheduled this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.

n Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazcomm.com




http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs. ... 19919/1007

Amazing what one ICE raid has snowballed into. Just wonder what else is out there.
The raid should have given Americans jobs to replace the illegals, but apparently there are a lot more shenanigans which will probably make Americans regaining those jobs impossible. Just plain greed is ruining this country.

Bank Initiates Foreclosure on Kosher Meat Producer


By Nathaniel Popper
Fri. Oct 31, 2008


The kosher meat company Agriprocessors has defaulted on a $35 million loan, leading a St. Louis bank to foreclose on the company’s assets.

If the foreclosure proceedings move forward, it would appear that they would force Agriprocessors out of business. On October 31, a U.S. District Court judge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, appointed a temporary receiver for Agriprocessors’ assets. The judge also set a hearing date of November 5 in the case.

Representatives of the company, once the largest kosher meat producer in the nation, could not be reached for comment.

The foreclosure proceedings against Agriprocessors, which has its primary production facilities in Postville, Iowa, were initiated in a lawsuit filed by First Bank of St. Louis on October 30. The bank calls for a third party to liquidate the company’s assets immediately.

The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Sholom Rubashkin, the son of Agriprocessors owner Aaron Rubashkin, was arrested and charged with helping to procure false identification for undocumented immigrants who worked at the Postville slaughterhouse. A day before that, the company was hit with nearly $10 million in fines, which the Iowa labor commissioner issued in response to the alleged failure of the company to pay proper wages to its employees.
Agriprocessors was the subject of a massive immigration raid in May, which has caused a cascading spiral of financial problems at the company. Agriprocessors is based in Brooklyn but has most of its operations in the Midwest. Until the raid, the company was America’s largest supplier of kosher beef and kosher poultry. The raid came two years after an article in the Forward raised concerns about the treatment and pay of workers at the plant.
According to the lawsuit, Agriprocessors and its owners took out a $35 million loan and put up as collateral “virtually all of their personal property.â€

Well, these a-holes better pay their bills, at least for keeping the electric on from their personal wealth. Otherwise I will contribute to PETA to sue the pudding out of them and the Humane Society should probably join in that suit.
I used to think kosher products were safer to buy than mysterious meats from who knows where. Not anymore. Kosher has now become a very dirty word in food safety.

Just watch, there will be an Agriprocessors Bailout and taxpayers will be forced to pay for it. Politicians from Iowa will be complaining that Agriprocessors is their main source of jobs - blah blah blah.

Originally Posted by vortex

Amazing what one ICE raid has snowballed into. Just wonder what else is out there.
The raid should have given Americans jobs to replace the illegals, but apparently there are a lot more shenanigans which will probably make Americans regaining those jobs impossible. Just plain greed is ruining this country.

BUT ANOTHER MEAT PACKING COMPANY WILL PICK UP THEIR BUSINESS. AND THEY WILL HIRE AMERICANS. ITS A SLOWER PROCESS THAN I WOULD LIKE, BUT THE END RESULT WILL BE MORE JOBS FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS WITH BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS. THERE ARE PLENTY OTHER MEAT PACKING PLANTS THAT CAN EXPAND TO ABSORB THE WORK...AND WORKERS. MAYBE THE LENDER CAN SELL THE PLANT TO ANOTHER COMPANY.

[quote="jimpasz"]Bank Initiates Foreclosure on Kosher Meat Producer


By Nathaniel Popper
Fri. Oct 31, 2008


The kosher meat company Agriprocessors has defaulted on a $35 million loan, leading a St. Louis bank to foreclose on the company’s assets.

If the foreclosure proceedings move forward, it would appear that they would force Agriprocessors out of business. On October 31, a U.S. District Court judge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, appointed a temporary receiver for Agriprocessors’ assets. The judge also set a hearing date of November 5 in the case.

Representatives of the company, once the largest kosher meat producer in the nation, could not be reached for comment.

The foreclosure proceedings against Agriprocessors, which has its primary production facilities in Postville, Iowa, were initiated in a lawsuit filed by First Bank of St. Louis on October 30. The bank calls for a third party to liquidate the company’s assets immediately.

The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Sholom Rubashkin, the son of Agriprocessors owner Aaron Rubashkin, was arrested and charged with helping to procure false identification for undocumented immigrants who worked at the Postville slaughterhouse. A day before that, the company was hit with nearly $10 million in fines, which the Iowa labor commissioner issued in response to the alleged failure of the company to pay proper wages to its employees.
Agriprocessors was the subject of a massive immigration raid in May, which has caused a cascading spiral of financial problems at the company. Agriprocessors is based in Brooklyn but has most of its operations in the Midwest. Until the raid, the company was America’s largest supplier of kosher beef and kosher poultry. The raid came two years after an article in the Forward raised concerns about the treatment and pay of workers at the plant.
According to the lawsuit, Agriprocessors and its owners took out a $35 million loan and put up as collateral “virtually all of their personal property.â€

Guess they found out that cheap labor (aka illegal aliens) isn't so cheap after all, eh? Hope other companies out there take heed. Karma is a wonderful thing.