Former Blue Bell CEO charged with conspiracy
https://www.statesman.com/business/20200501/former-blue-bell-ceo-charged-with-conspiracy
The former chief executive of Blue Bell Creameries has been charged with criminal conspiracy stemming from the 2015 listeria outbreak at its ice cream plants that killed three people.
Paul Kruse, who retired three years ago, participated in a conspiracy to conceal “potential and/or confirmed listeria contamination in Blue Bell products from certain Blue Bell customers,” according to federal prosecutors, who filed the charges Friday in U.S. District Court in Travis County.
According to the charges, other Blue Bell employees — “known and unknown” — also participated in it.
Blue Bell, one of the country’s largest ice cream makers, is based in Brenham.
According to the federal charges, the goal of the conspiracy “was to obtain money from Blue Bell’s customers by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”
The company suffered significant financial losses due to the listeria outbreak. Blue Bell, which got its start 111 years ago, shut down production for a time in 2015 and recalled 8 million gallons of ice cream after reports of listeria started coming in. In all, 10 people fell ill and three died.
During the shutdown, the company deep-cleaned its three plants in Brenham, Sylacauga, Ala., and Broken Arrow, Okla., replaced some equipment and reworked procedures to remedy investigators’ concerns.
In 2018, the state of Texas said it had closed out an enforcement agreement with Blue Bell that had allowed operations to resume with expanded monitoring.
https://www.statesman.com/business/20200501/former-blue-bell-ceo-charged-with-conspiracy
The former chief executive of Blue Bell Creameries has been charged with criminal conspiracy stemming from the 2015 listeria outbreak at its ice cream plants that killed three people.
Paul Kruse, who retired three years ago, participated in a conspiracy to conceal “potential and/or confirmed listeria contamination in Blue Bell products from certain Blue Bell customers,” according to federal prosecutors, who filed the charges Friday in U.S. District Court in Travis County.
According to the charges, other Blue Bell employees — “known and unknown” — also participated in it.
Blue Bell, one of the country’s largest ice cream makers, is based in Brenham.
According to the federal charges, the goal of the conspiracy “was to obtain money from Blue Bell’s customers by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”
The company suffered significant financial losses due to the listeria outbreak. Blue Bell, which got its start 111 years ago, shut down production for a time in 2015 and recalled 8 million gallons of ice cream after reports of listeria started coming in. In all, 10 people fell ill and three died.
During the shutdown, the company deep-cleaned its three plants in Brenham, Sylacauga, Ala., and Broken Arrow, Okla., replaced some equipment and reworked procedures to remedy investigators’ concerns.
In 2018, the state of Texas said it had closed out an enforcement agreement with Blue Bell that had allowed operations to resume with expanded monitoring.
