Companies Refused Payment To Kosher Slaughterhouse

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former kosher slaughterhouse manager accused of defrauding a bank had the final say on financial reports, a former chief financial officer testified Monday.

Mitchell Meltzer said the manager, Sholom Rubashkin, allowed him to shift expenses to hide purchases from St. Louis-based First Bank.

Rubashkin, faces 91 fraud charges in the federal trial, including mail, wire and bank fraud. Prosecutors claim Agriprocessors Inc. intentionally defrauded First Bank on a revolving $35 million loan by faking invoices from meat dealers.

The Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, was the site of a major immigration raid in May 2008, when 389 illegal immigrants were arrested. After the raid, First Bank sent Agriprocessors about $3.45 million to keep the plant afloat.

"Sometimes he would offer changes, and they made them," Meltzer said. "He usually wanted more income."

Meltzer said he and four other employees received parts of their salaries in cash to avoid taxes. He also said that he and former Agriprocessors controller Toby Bensasson created false invoices that they referred to as "tootsies."