Agriprocessors Executive Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

DES MOINES, IA — A one-time executive at Agriprocessors Inc. pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy charge related to alleged bank fraud at the Postville slaughterhouse.

Yomtov “Toby” Bensasson was convicted of conspiracy to make false statements to a bank. The 56-year-old admitted that he conspired between September 2007 and October 2008 to lie to a bank to receive advances on a loan.

Bensasson told authorities that he “overstated the value of collateral as part of his employer’s request for an advance on a loan,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors declined to confirm that Bensasson worked for Agriprocessors, and made no mention of the plant in court papers. But federal work-visa records for Iowa identify Bensasson as the chief financial officer at the struggling kosher meat plant. It is unknown if he still holds that job.

Agriprocessors was the site of a May 2008 immigration raid that led to the arrest of 389 immigrant workers and criminal charges against top executives. Among the allegations are claims that former executive Sholom Rubashkin lied to a St. Louis bank to collect advances on a revolving $35 million loan.

Rubashkin maintains his innocence.

It remains unclear what role, if any, Bensasson will play in the larger federal case against Rubashkin and other employees. Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney, declined to elaborate on the information published in court records.

Rubashkin’s lawyer, Guy Cook, said: “The defense team sees this plea as entirely consistent with Rubashkin’s defense that he was not responsible for all the bad at Agriprocessors.”

Bensasson remains free on bond until he is sentenced. He faces a maximum five-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special court assessment and three years of supervised release.

The case was handled by Peter Deegan, C.J. Williams and Matthew Cole, the same three U.S. attorneys who are prosecuting Agriprocessors.

Rubashkin’s lawyers, Cook and F. Montgomery Brown, also filed a list of witnesses today they say will provide alibis for Rubashkin. The names include Bensasson; Rubashkin’s brother, Heshy; and his wife, Leah.

The list was filed “to put the government on notice that we intent to present evidence that (Rubashkin) was not present on the dates” when crimes at the plant allegedly occurred, Cook said.