INSIDER
Ex-Blue Bell Creameries CEO charged in deadly listeria case
Read full article: Ex-Blue Bell Creameries CEO charged in deadly listeria caseA federal grand jury in Austin returned a seven-count indictment Tuesday charging Paul Kruse with six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a Justice Department statement. Health officials notified Blue Bell in February 2015 that two ice cream products from the company’s flagship factory in the central Texas city of Brenham and its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, plant tested positive for listeria. Blue Bell recalled products after its ice cream was linked to 10 listeria cases in four states, including three deaths in Kansas. Prosecutors allege that Kruse schemed to deceive Blue Bell customers by directing employees to remove potentially contaminated products from store freezers without alerting grocers and consumers as to why. Kruse was initially charged May 1, the same day that Blue Bell Creameries pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing contaminated goods.