Owen of Wood County Cheese Factory Charged for Stealing from Farmers
Friday, January 31st, 2020 -- 1:37 PM
(Marshfield News Herald) -The owner of a popular cheese factory faces a felony theft charge after prosecutors say he stole more than $20,000 from 83 farmers.Michael J. Moran, co-owner and former president Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Co. Inc., 6860 State 34, Rudolph, was charged in Wood County Circuit Court, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced Thursday. Cheese plants typically write checks to farmers when the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the price of milk higher than what the plant initially paid, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors say that from January 2012 to April 2018, Moran forged 83 farmers’ signatures on the backs of those checks, put them into the cash register at his store and then deposited them in the bank at the end of the week.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation, with help from the USDA Office of Inspector General.
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