Release No.: 044-18
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2018 – The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) reached a consent decision with Farmington Livestock LLC (Farmington) and owner, Keith Robertson (Robertson), Bourbon, Mo., for alleged violations of the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act.
AMS conducted an investigation that revealed shortages in Farmington’s custodial account of $546,372.70 on April 30, 2015 and $494,724.64, on May 31, 2015. A custodial account is a trust account that is a separate bank account designated for shippers’ proceeds. These shortages were believed to be due, in part, to Farmington’s failure to deposit into the account an amount equal to the proceeds receivable from the sale of consigned livestock within the timeframe prescribed by section 201.42 of the P&S regulations. Operating with custodial account shortages is a violation of Section 312(a) of the P&S Act, and places livestock sellers at risk of not being paid timely or at all.
AMS also found from Sept. 3, 2014, through June 24, 2015, Farmington and Robertson created purchase invoices showing sale prices that were higher than the sale prices during the sale of the same livestock. Creating purchase invoices that do not fully and correctly disclose transactional information is a violation of section 401 of the P&S Act and sections 201.53 of the regulations.
Farmington has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10,000, and enter a suspension period of 14 days, effective on April 21, 2018, placing Farmington under close monitoring by AMS during that time. Once Farmington’s custodial account is in balance, AMS will file a motion for a supplemental order lifting the registration suspension.
The P&S Act is a fair trade practice and payment protection law that promotes fair and competitive marketing environments for the livestock, meat, and poultry industries.
For further information about the Packers and Stockyards Act, contact Brett Offutt, Fair Trade Practices Program, Packers and Stockyards Division, at (202) 720-7051, or by email at s.brett.offutt@ams.usda.gov.
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