Press "Enter" to skip to content

EB-5 Story Explodes: FBI Alerted in Nov 2011; Case Involves Turkey Plant, Sveen, Hutterites

Last updated on 2013.11.17

Just when you thought the investigations of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, South Dakota's EB-5 program, and Richard Benda's mysterious death couldn't get any more complicated, reporter Bob Mercer blows it up with a new source who says the scandal includes the Dakota Provisions turkey plant in Huron, Aberdeen lawyer Jeffrey Sveen, and the schismatic Hutterites colonies of South Dakota.

Let's start with the Hutterites. In 1992, the Hutterite Schmieden-Leut Conference suffered a schism. South Dakota Hutterite Joseph Wipf challenged the leadership of Senior Elder Jacob Kleinsasser of Manitoba. As I understand it, Kleinsasser promoted progressive activities like sending Hutterite youth, including the women, to university. Wipf's South Dakota Hutterites would have none of that (even our Hutterites are more conservative than others!) and broke away from the Schmieden-Leut.

Mercer's source, Texas lawyer and investigator Kirby Roberts, represents the Waldner Hutterite faction that supports Elder Kleinsasser. Jeff Sveen represents the Wipf faction that repudiates Elder Kleinsasser. Sveen is also the agent, chairman of the board, and primary shareholder of Dakota Provisions, the turkey processing plant that he helped his Hutterite clients start in Huron. Mercer reports that Sveen traveled to China with South Dakota's EB-5 director Joop Bollen in 2008, and that Sveen's meetings with Chinese investors resulted in $60 million for Dakota Provisions.

As Roberts looked into business dealings connected with the Hutterite fight, he found connections to another EB-5 project, Northern Beef Packers in Aberdeen. He also discovered issues, still not made public, that motivated him to contact the FBI:

Roberts said he became familiar with the Dakota Provisions turkey processing operation at Huron, which is owned by Hutterite colonies. Roberts said he, in turn, became knowledgeable about aspects of the Northern Beef Packers plant at Aberdeen.

Roberts said he met with FBI agents in Minneapolis in November 2011 regarding those projects and the EB-5 investments in them.

Roberts said he has reason to believe, based on what he was told by a witness who was interviewed by the FBI, that the FBI began an investigation in March 2012. The witness, Bob Breukelman, confirmed that timeline in an interview Thursday.

“There are some issues that need to be and are being investigated,” Breukelman said [Bob Mercer, "FBI Probe of Meat Plants Evolved from Church Dispute," Rapid City Journal, 2013.11.15].

Notice that timeline puts the investigation over a year prior to when Governor Dennis Daugaard says he became aware of any investigation into his (or his predecessor Marion Michael Rounds's) Office for Economic Development's EB-5 program and months prior to his imposition of greater oversight over the private SDRC's administration of EB-5 money.

Roberts also tells Mercer that he was the guy who brought the EB-5 mess to Senator Chuck Grassley's attention. The Iowa Senator has been hammering on USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas, President Obama's nominee for Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, over lax practices and political favoritism in his administration of EB-5 visas. Roberts says Senator Grassley first asked USCIS for information on South Dakota's EB_5 program in a letter dated February 7, 2013—again, prior to Governor Daugaard's apparent knowledge of any investigation into the program.

Read Mercer's full article. Chew, digest, then read it again. The GOED/EB-5/Northern Beef Packers/Dakota Provisions/Bollen/Benda/Rounds/Sveen/Hutterite story is only going to get bigger.

15 Comments

  1. Roger Cornelius 2013.11.15

    Mercer shocked me with his article, was surprised to see him go in-depth and doing an excellent job on detail. Good job Mr. Mercer.

    The Rapid City Journal has not posted on their website so comments can't be made, that is disappointing.

  2. Joe 2013.11.15

    This is just more confusing. Its like every couple of days we get more smoke, yet we can't find the fire.

    I'm not sure I really understand how all of this is going on. Is this all the same or is it different?

    Confusing everyday more and more confusing, I have a feeling that there is way way more going on in Brendan Johnson's office then people believe. The U.S. Marshall's investigating Benda's shooting is what trips me up. The only reason they would be involved is if the U.S. attorneys office sent them down there to investigate it which makes me think that he had reason to believe there was something going on for them to investigate.

  3. Liberty Dick 2013.11.15

    You really need to make a spider web diagram of this story just to illustrate how far reaching it is and who is at the center of it.

  4. Lanny V Stricherz 2013.11.15

    And here we are the middle of the next month, at which time the AG said he would be releasing details on the investigation into Benda's shooting death. Anybody heard anything yet?

  5. grudznick 2013.11.15

    You know who I'd like to hear from on this thing? Mr. Stan. He is the straw that stirs the pot in Pierre and also calls people into the light from the shadows when they need to have a rooting.

  6. Jana 2013.11.15

    It's not really plausible that state officials didn't know about the 2012 investigation...is it.

  7. Wayne Pauli 2013.11.15

    No Jana, I do not think it is. This whole thing is very disappointing. We are always talked to about being a small state with South Dakota values...just what are those values?

  8. Douglas Wiken 2013.11.15

    For Republicans in power, the primary value is "My crap doesn't stink."

  9. grudznick 2013.11.15

    Mr. Gant has nothing to do with this. I'm just sayin...

  10. Roger Cornelius 2013.11.15

    The disappointing part of this story for me is the snail pace that South Dakota media is reporting it, but not investigating it.
    I understand being cautious, but that length of time it has taken them to get this far is ridiculous. It seems as though they would just as soon keep their heads in the sand rather than report on a Republican scandal.

  11. grudznick 2013.11.15

    Mr. Cornelius, the media also has that Dr. Bos story to catch up with along with all the Obamacare fiasco items I see on TV. That stuff sounds horrible. This HB5 thing sounds like a contagion. The media will get there but they will investigate completely and then present a professional and unbiased presentation, like it should be presented.

  12. Jenny 2013.11.16

    I agree, it shouldn't take this long for an autopsy report.

  13. Joe 2013.11.16

    Its hard to investigate these stories though. First it involves many players in which the mass majority do not live in or around South Dakota. The Argus talked about having problems contacting numerous players in this. Second when those that are involved are under investigation for the most part its hard to get them to go on the record saying what is going on with all of this. My guess is now they are investigating, they did the reporting for a week straight but have since really slowed down with the reporting, which makes me think they are now actually investigating or so I can hope.

  14. Douglas Wiken 2013.11.16

    It is 50 years since Kennedy was assassinated and the autopsy and other info is still being rehashed. The Benda death may be similar.

Comments are closed.