Attorney General Lynn Fitch issued the following statement.
Today, Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced the sentencing of John R. Coleman, former CEO of Express Grain Terminals, LLC, for five counts of making false representations to defraud the government and one count of false pretenses to the more than 400 victim farmers.
"The fraudulent actions of this defendant cost many Mississippi farmers their livelihood," said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. "I am proud of our work with federal and state partners to investigate and prosecute these crimes. My office is committed to providing justice to the hardworking farm families that were the victims here, and we will continue to hold those who defraud Mississippi and the Mississippi people accountable."
Express Grain operated as a grain elevator in the Greenwood area that purchased, processed, and stored grain that had been harvested by local farmers. Coleman altered the audited financial statements of Express Grain in order to receive a State warehouse license, lied about the amount of debt he owed on grain held at the Express Grain facility, and claimed to farmers that Express Grain was financially healthy when Express Grain was on the brink of bankruptcy. Express Grain eventually filed bankruptcy in 2021 causing widespread financial hardship for farmers all over the Mississippi Delta.
Today, March 19, Leflore County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Carey-McCray sentenced Coleman to 15 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with the first 10 years to be served concurrent with the federal sentence, and ordered him to pay $750,000 in restitution to the State.
In February, United States District Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Coleman to serve 120 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $69,841,797 in restitution to 152 victims.
Along with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Northern District of Mississippi Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations investigated the case.
Synopsis of Case
The
Horne audits show a company that is in serious trouble as it tried to
stave off impending collapse. The losses substantially increased every
year as debt soared. Meanwhile, the MDAC audits painted a rather
different picture. Express Grain was losing some money but was in no
danger of failure.
Horne warned at the beginning of each and every audit the company face the serious prospect of failure. Horne stated on page 4 of each Audit:
The accompanying combined financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2020, have been prepared assuming that the Companies will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the combined financial statements, the Companies have accumulated losses of approximately $21,600,000 since its inception and their total current liabilities exceed total current assets at June 30, 2020. The biodiesel facility was placed into service during fiscal 2019 but has not operated at full capacity. The Companies have a line-of-credit with a balance at June 30, 2020 of approximately $24.6 million that matures within the next twelve months. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Companies' ability to continue as a going concern.Management's plans concerning these matters are also discussed in Note 1 to the combined financial statements. The combined financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome this uncertainty. Our opinion is not modified with respect to this matter.Every Horne audit continued this dire warning although the amount of the losses changed. The audits show Express Grain's implosion accelerated over the last four years. The annual losses are stated below.
December 2020 (Semi-annual audit): $19.4 million
2020 audit: $21.6 million
2019 audit: $14 million
2018 audit: $9 million
2017 audit: $2.4 million
None of these warnings appeared in the audits submitted to the state for licensure requirements. They were simply omitted. Out of sight, out of mind. It is not hard to see why they disappeared as they would have stood out as a giant red flag to anyone who even looked at the first two pages of the audits. With no such red flag warnings present, MDAC renewed the license, unaware the company was collapsing. Thus Express Grain was illegally operating while it took in the crops from unsuspecting farmers. Earlier post on phony audits.
The federal indictment charges Coleman schemed to "defraud Farmer Victims, UMB Bank," and MDAC. The fraud began with submitting the phony audits to MDAC. However, Coleman didn't submit the phony audits to only MDAC. The CEO also submitted them to UMB Bank in 2020 and 2021. The indictment spells out what happened as the company defrauded farmers and bankers alike:
21. On September 22, 2021, UMB Bank requested that JOHN R. COLEMAN provide a ""warehouse receipt report"" showing the amount of the grain physically held by Express Grain that had been pledged as collateral to UMB Bank as well as amounts that had been pledged or sold to third parties other than UMB Bank.22. On September 22, 2021, JOHN R. COLEMAN responded to UMB Bank and grossly underreported the amount of grain that had been pledged or sold to entities other than UMB Bank. For example, JOHN R. COLEMAN claimed that 100,000 bushels had been sold to FC Stone Merchant Services, LLC in a purchase and sale agreement, when in reality, 2,780,000 bushels had been sold to FC Stone Merchant Services, LLC, a difference of over $30 Million. This same grain that had been sold to FC Stone Merchant Services, LLC was also pledged as collateral" "to UMB Bank; furthermore, the Farmer Victims that had harvested this grain had not been paid by Express Grain for that same grain..23. On September 23, 2021, JOHN R. COLEMAN admitted via email to UMB Bank that he had grossly underreported the warehouse receipt report and that he had sold or pledged as collateral millions of bushels of grain and not reported those bushels to UMB Bank..24. On September 24, 2021, UMB Bank issued a Notice of Default to Express Grain and JOHN R. COLEMAN, demanding immediate payment of approximately $70,703,260.20. Throughout the harvest season of 2021, Farmer Victims delivered grain to Express Grain but did not receive payment for the grain. As a result, in September 2021, Express Grain had not paid the Farmer Victims for much of the grain physically stored at Express Grain. JOHN R. COLEMAN sold large amounts of grain to third parties such as FC Stone Merchant Services, LLC and never actually paid the Farmer Victims for the grain they had delivered to Express Grain.
The indictment claims the company owed $31 million in "grain payable"i.e. the company held grain for farmers but had not paid for the grain. The company pledged the same grain to multiple creditors (Think The Producers) while selling the grain without the farmer's knowledge. Many farmers obtained crop loans before the harvest. Short of cash and crop, the farmers and their lenders suffered severe losses.
While the company collapsed, Coleman told a different story to customers:
We are steadily crushing beans, and will start shipping trains of beans so we have ample space for everyone. I also wanted to let you know that we are in good shape financially. We have funding in place from multiple sources to make sure everyone gets paid on time. Stay safe out there and keep those combines rolling!
The statement serves as the basis for one of the counts of wire fraud as Coleman continued entice farmers to send their crops to his grain elevators.
UMB Bank sued Express Grain in late September 2021. Express Grain and its affiliated companies filed a chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy the next day. However, the fraud was uncovered after State Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Charles Younger held a hearing about Express Grain on December 15, 2021. Ag Commish told the committee that Express Grain submitted its financial statements as required by law. Post on hearing.
The
Commissioner said something that didn't sit well with Horne because
Horne representatives visited MDAC the next morning when the agency
opened its doors and provided Horne's copies of the audits to the
Commissioner's staff. They compared the audits and soon realized the
audits submitted to the agency were bogus. Commissioner Gipson
investigated and revoked Express Grain's license.
31 comments:
So there is a grain of truth to his crimes.
I wish they had just turned over to the farmers.....sorry SOB.
It'll be a shame when Nancy, Zach, and John serve less time in state prison than this guy.
5:23, I think by now you have proven you can make a pun out of any post. Please give it a rest.
Now if AG Fitch would look out for the taxpayers by prosecuting all the state employees that are working one job but drawing checks for multiple positions. Does anyone know if you could do a public records request for state employees who are receiving payment for more than one position?
Too light. Add 20 more years and it may have been enough.
PUBLIC SERVICE NOTICE @5:51 PM is now KF's "pun police."
The guy was bankrupt after all this went down, so how does a guy sitting in jail pay $70 million in restitution to victims?
Both John and his father (Michael Coleman) told me there was no fraud and they would be vindicated. They said the state and feds were wrong. I knew they were lying, and they knew they were lying. Crooks are going to be crooks. I don’t know how they can still face the people in the delta.
He should have had Lamar Adams lawyer.
Concurrent.....meaning only really 5 years in MDOC. Nice PR move AG.
There is one Republican elected official who is on 4 payrolls all at the same time.
They ought to Revoke Commissioner Gipson's license...21 million...70 million...31 million...Bogus reports aside for now the Ag Commission let Express Grain Operate on a ONE Million $ Bond! It's a no brainer that a company moving that type of revenue needs More than a One Million $ bond! Total Failure of the Ag Commission!
And they just file any report that comes in & not Double Check with the Audit Firm whose Name is on it??? Damn People...
@601 -- interesting proposition; of course someone COULD have more than one job and perform both depending on the work requirements (part time; weekend and weekday; 24 hour shifts, etc) - but since you seem so convincence that there are folks that are getting paid for two jobs while not performing them ---- how about giving all of us, including AG Fitch who you call out to prosecute them, some details. Maybe names; how about jobs; whatever. Fitch, nor no prosecutor, could take your accusations without anything else and do such a prosecution.
Of course, Auditor Shad could find those incividuals and submit them for prosecution, but he also would need your help in locating them. Now since you have dove into this cesspool I'm trusting that there is more than just one specific example you have in mind and have bloated that into a significant problem throughout state government, but for now just give us a couple of examples.
@8:05 Prove it
@8:05 Prove it
That's ridiculous. Neither the Ag Commission nor the commissioner had any culpability in this.
“Along with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Northern District of Mississippi Office,“
This phrase says “I don’t know know how federal jurisdiction works and that Mississippi has more than one US Attorney”
"The comments from Bryant came as he discussed his own experience as a law enforcement officer and how he came to understand the way jail impacts families.
He added that “there are people that need to be in prison, and then there’s people we’re just mad at.”
“If they go do something wrong, maybe they are doing drugs, they get into the cycle of addiction, they break into your car, you’re mad at ’em,” he said. “Do they need to be in jail for 20 years? No.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/431319-mississippi-gop-governor-says-a-lot-of-us-wouldve-screamed-if-obama/
Will horne suffer any ramifications on the "omission"?????????
Keep in mind this is probably a 25 percent crime.
I wonder if Bryant thinks a Governor who attempted to profit off of his position and the use of state funds while in office should be in prison?
Why should it? Horne audited the company as it was supposed to do. It was Horne that notified MDAC of the fraud when it found out Coleman gave doctored Horne's audits he gave to the state.
5:23, keep it up. Jackassery helps.
Now he's wishing he had made some large contributions to AG Fitch's campaign fund.
Maybe Andy and John have a deal. One of Andy’s songs is called “Express Grain Restitution”. All profits go toward John’s repayment and Andy ends up with a record deal. John sells Andy’s music catalog and pays off his debt.
When Gipson found out about the fraud, he immediately held a hearing and revoked the licenses. What more did you expect him to do? He followed the law on the $1 million bond. Blame the legislature for not increasing the limits as everyone complains about the higher costs involved.
All the support and chest thumping by folks like the MDA probably helped the fraudsters in several ways.
AG Fitch can now get off her ass and prosecute the Leflore County Supervisors who - according to Shad - misappropriated COVID funds. There appears to be absolutely zero accountability in Leflore County, and Fitch is doing absolutely nothing about it.
Lynn, appearing like the Pope on a balcony, waves to crowd and announces she is proud. Proud of her staff.
I wonder if she knew the facts of the case, the prosecution strategy and the terms of the sentence.
What happened to the farmers’ civil suit against UMB. Big splash when filed.
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