SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former manager at a kosher slaughterhouse in northeast Iowa is going on trial in South Dakota.
Sholom Rubashkin is to go on trial Tuesday in Sioux Falls on 91 fraud-related charges. He is accused of cheating a bank, laundering more than $1 million, concealing months of fraud and failing to pay livestock providers on time.
The 49-year-old Rubashkin was an executive at the former Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa — the site of a massive immigration raid in May 2008. Prosecutors also have charged him with 72 immigration-related charges for his alleged role in a scheme to hire illegal workers. The immigration trial begins one week after the bank fraud trial concludes. Rubashkin has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Officials say the bank fraud trial could last up to six weeks. It was supposed to take place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but a judge said news coverage of the case could influence potential jurors there.