Business NEWS

Why Former CEO of Iowa kosher meatpacking plant arrested

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:October 31, 2008

A former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse that was found to have employed hundreds of illegal immigrants was arrested yesterday by authorities who allege that he helped many of the workers get fake documents.

Sholom Rubashkin, 49, the son of Agriprocessors owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, was charged with conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants for financial gain, aiding and abetting document fraud, and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.

Agents raided the plant May 12, arresting 389 people in what officials said then was the largest single-site immigration bust in U.S. history.

In federal court yesterday, Rubashkin agreed to be released on his own recognizance on the condition he put up a $500,000 bond by Nov. 5 and wear a tracking bracelet. His attorney said he intends to plead not guilty. Federal officials allege that Sholom Rubashkin, son of Agriprocessors founder Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, intentionally helped illegal workers obtain false documentation. The new charges come one day after the Iowa labor commissioner fined the company $10 million for wage violations.

The Rubashkins and other company officials were charged Sept. 9 with more than 9,000 misdemeanor violations of state child labor laws over an eight-month period ending with the May 12 raid. The charges involved 32 minors, some younger than 16, who allegedly were exposed to dangerous chemicals and were operating meat grinders, circular saws and other heavy machinery. The court complaint against Sholom Rubashkin — whose father, Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, is the founder of Agriprocessors — is based on information from unnamed sources who worked at the plant. It cites an instance in which he allegedly inspected fake IDs and said they “looked good” to him. One source said Mr. Rubashkin gave him $4,500 to buy identification for workers.

The charge of identity theft carries a mandatory two-year minimum prison sentence. Conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants and document fraud both carry a maximum 10-year prison term and fines of up to $250,000 each.

Since Election Day is only days away, the story is likely to have a political impact.

So who’s the big winner from all of this? Chase Martyn of iowaindependent says “My first instinct is to say that this helps Democratic candidates for the Iowa House, who have been proposing to “protect our jobs by cracking down on CEOs who hire illegal immigrants” in television ads, mailings, and other communications for some time.

That these were federal charges and not state charges is unlikely to matter. Iowans will wake up tomorrow to newspapers that say a CEO has been ‘cracked down on,’ and Democrats’ television ads will begin to resonate even more.”

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