Daily Mississippian

Missisippi Attorney General Jim Hood addresses the media about the indictment of Richard Hall, owner of a now closed beef processing plant in Oxford. [Click to enlarge]

Inadequate information, a scheme that got by most and fraudulent acts led by Richard Hall caused the state of Mississippi to lose more than $50 million in an unsuccessful investment known as Mississippi Beef Processors, prosecutors announced Thursday at a news conference at the federal courthouse in Oxford.

Hall pled guilty on Wednesday in federal court to one count of committing fraud and money laundering and three counts of mail fraud, according to Jim Greenlee, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District.

Hall also pleaded guilty to three state counts of mail fraud in Yalobusha County Circuit Court, the county in which the original site of the beef processing plant is located. He will likely serve eight years in prison as a result of a plea bargain, prosecutors said.

Hall, the plant's former operator, is said to be the main reason for the failure of the processing plant, opened briefly for business on Aug. 23, 2004. The plant immediately began to suffer deficits that could not be turned around.

In September 2004, Hall acquired and spent a $1.5 million security deposit to maintain operations by using it as operating capital.

The spending of the various funds was not enough, however, and the company closed down little more than a month later on Nov. 17, 2004.

On Jan. 5, 2005, Hall defaulted on a $35 million state loan with Community Bank. One month later, the bank foreclosed on its loans, and more money moving began to occur.

State lawmakers had to repay the $34.2 million loan to Community Bank in June 2005. The state invested a total of $55 million in the beef processing plant before it failed, and 400 workers lost their jobs.

State auditor Phil Bryant said one of the main reasons for the failure of the plant was indeed Richard Hall.

"Although it is impossible to determine if the project may have ever been successful, it is certain that no company can exist when the principle officer is corrupt," Bryant said. "His conversion of over $751,000 of public and corporate funds to his personal use along with kickback schemes [illegal payments of bribes in return for a service] with construction companies and equipment suppliers was the erosion that cracked the foundation."

Bryant added that the "well-intentioned but ill-designed review and monitoring system" was one of the reasons problems at the plant were not caught before state funding began.

"This announcement is by no means the end of the investigation. Justice will be served," he said.

Greenlee hinted at a recommendation of an oversight board to follow how taxpayers' money is spent.

"I don't believe this will happen again," Greenlee said, adding that Hall is currently out of jail on a $100,000 bond.

"I've learned money truly is the root of all evil," Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said. "Hall didn't listen, and Hall's going to pay."

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