Karen B. Olson, former CEO of the now-defunct Matanuska Creamery, has been charged with lying to the USDA and trying to defraud the state of Alaska. A federal grand jury has handed down a six-count amendment with the charges, according to the Alaska Dispatch.
According to charging documents, Olson covered up the alleged criminal conduct of Kyle E. Beus, the former co-owner and president of the Valley Dairy, which owned and operated Matanuska Creamery.
Click here to read the story behind Matanuska Valley's dairy industry.
According to the Alaska Dispatch:
Olson has insisted in a number of interviews with Alaska Dispatch that the only interest she ever had was trying to keep the dairy business alive in Alaska. After she joined Beus at Valley Dairy, the company began efforts to tap a $5-million pool of USDA money set aside for rural development.
Beus was indicted last year on charges he took at least $120,000 of that money for his own "personal and discretionary use." Where and when Olson learned of his alleged activities is not explained in the indictment against her, but it says she devised a scheme "to conceal the true nature of the Valley Dairy finances and the fraudulent activity of Beus, and to obtain a loan from the ARLF (Alaska Revolving Loan Fund) to keep the Valley Dairy, of which Olson was an investor and employee, operating."
Olson could face up to 30 years in jail and a fine of $1 million or more. PD
âSummarized by PD staff from cited source
