False Invoices Uncovered at Livestock Facility

MARYVILLE, MO — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has uncovered falsified invoices at several livestock market auctions across the Midwest, including one in Maryville. An 18-month investigation found violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act) from seven livestock auctions and five dealers, including United Producers, Inc., Maryville, according to a GIPSA news release. Court documents show United Producers, Inc. (UPI) agreed in a consent decision on Nov. 8, 2012, to pay a $110,000 civil penalty to resolve the GIPSA complaint filed Sept. 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that UPI created false invoices for livestock sold to two dealers, Thomas Witt and Louis “Corky” Holle, who had requested that UPI create invoices with inflated prices, which were then presented to customers. According to the complaint and a letter from UPI’s corporate controller and assistant treasurer, personnel at the Maryville facility complied with the dealers’ requests to create the false invoices. This follows a similar incident from 2007 involving United Producers. According to court documents, UPI agreed in a consent decision on June 1, 2007, to pay a $96,000 civil penalty and to cease and desist from creating false or misleading records in connection to the P&S Act.