Charges against Danny and Pauline Froman of the now defunct Gallatin Grain Company were dismissed today in order to be re-filed with additional felony counts.
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The new charges filed today essentially make the felony charges filed against Pauline Froman to be identical to those filed against her husband, Danny Froman.
Each defendant now faces 22 counts of stealing/stealing grain. New felony charges now also accuse each defendant of three counts of misleading Missouri Department of Agriculture auditors. In addition, a misdemeanor charge is filed against Danny Froman for engaging in the business of being a grain dealer without a license.
Previously, Mrs. Froman faced nine felony counts of stealing grain and one of filing false financial statements.
In a probable cause statement, prepared by Sgt. David L. Merrill of the Missouri Highway Patrol, Froman is accused of selling 54,940 pounds of soybeans in the name of Gallatin Grain Company to DeBruce Grain, Inc., after Froman had voluntarily surrendered his Missouri grain dealer’s license on Feb. 9, 2009. Froman acquired the soybeans from Brandon Eads in Grundy County on Feb. 12 and then sold the soybeans on Feb. 13, 2009. The soybeans were delivered to Cargill, Inc., at the direction of DeBruce Grain, Inc.
In the affidavit by Richard P. Schulueter, Grain Regulatory Auditor, details of the methods the Fromans allegedly used to conceal records are stated. During a meeting on Feb. 9, 2009, Froman stated that there were accounts that were "off the book" as he surrendered his grain dealer and warehouse licenses. Duplicate tickets concealed the delivery of grain and thus were not disclosed as obligations.
An employee used a 3-part ticket with the top copy pulled off and issued to the producer showing the pertinent information of the delivery. The unused copies of the tickets were used to record outbound activity. This system concealed the delivery of the grain and subsequently were not disclosed as obligations. The employee was under the supervision of Pauline Froman. This knowledge of concealing records was also documented by records found during a search of the Froman home. A document was found which contained the statement, "Amounts not shown to Auditors."
News of these charges re-filed today in the Circuit Court of Daviess County broke just as this newspaper edition was going to press (noon). The Fromans are out on bond while legal proceedings continue. No court date will be set until the paperwork is completed.
Danny Froman voluntarily surrendered the Gallatin Grain Company grain warehouse and dealer licenses to state officials in February, 2009. Over 100 claims were filed against Gallatin Grain Company. The total claims were in excess of $4.5 million as announced at an administrative hearing held by the Dept. of Agriculture on May 28. Storage claims totaled $1,530,488, grain dealer claims totaled $1,799,253, ineligible claims totaled $201,227, and withdrawn claims totaled $1,164,418.91 (withdrawn claims are those where claimants accepted assets in exchange for their withdrawal from the claim process).
Farmers with verified claims received about 12 cents on the dollar from the bonds posted with the Dept. of Agriculture.