Sioux Center, Iowa — Two men who were employed as the general manager and assistant general manager of a Sioux Center-based grain coop have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and making False Statements.
The indictment, filed last week in United States District Court For The Northern District of Iowa alleges that Kenneth Ehrp, the former general manager of the coop and Calvin Diehl, the former assistant general manager of the coop instructed coop employees to blend soybeans with oats or layer soybeans on top of oats, in violation of the United States Grain Standards Act. The act says that no foreign material, including other types of grain, may be added to grain being marketed, except in certain situations that did not apply in this case.
The indictment says that soybeans are more valuable than oats, and cites a price from March 31, 2017, when soybeans were $9.69 per bushel, and oats were $2.39 per bushel.
According to the indictment, Ehrp and Diehl made false statements to inspectors and lenders about the amount of oats they had on hand and how much was lost due to “shrinkage.” It says Diehl told a federal examiner that he did not know why a pile of oats was located near a pile of soybeans at one of the coop’s satellite facilities. The indictment alleges this was a false statement.
No further court dates have yet been set.
