-Caveat Lector- USDA Said Squandered Money By PHILIP BRASHER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A government corporation that was created to finance new industrial uses of crops was supposed to be a boon for rural areas. Now the agency is quietly shutting down amid allegations that it lost most of its money in bad investments. A report by the Agriculture Department's inspector general estimates that three-fourths of the $43 million in investments that the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Corp. has made since its creation seven years ago will probably not be recovered. The corporation is scheduled to go out of existence down next month, as Congress cut off its funding in the 2000 budget year, partly out of concern about the agency's practices. ``All of our investments, all of our actions were done in absolute good faith,'' Bob Armstrong, an agronomist who is the corporation's executive director, said Monday. ``Did we wind up investing in some people that wound up committing waste, fraud and abuse against us? Probably so.'' The corporation, which is a branch of USDA, invested with businesses that had ``little or no chance of success'' and then failed to monitor companies to make sure the money was used properly, according to the report, dated Nov. 30. In one case, an individual used $344,000 of the government's $450,000 investment to pay off personal debts and then shut down his business, according to the report, which said prosecution against several of the businesses is being considered. The corporation, which has an ownership stake in the companies it invests in, was supposed to help create jobs and stabilize commodity prices when it was authorized by Congress in the 1990 farm bill. Some of the companies it has aided are still in business, such as Phoenix Biocomposites of Mankato, Minn., which makes wallboard from wheat straw and granite-like cabinet tops out of soybeans and newspapers. AARC has invested $3 million in Phoenix, the most of any enterprise. Armstrong said that the loss rate isn't surprising given the corporation's mission to invest in enterprises that can't get private financing. He said his staff concentrated on monitoring the biggest investments and left the others to another USDA agency to watch. He says the investments have produced 9,500 jobs, directly or indirectly, which is close to AARC's goal of 10,000. The inspector general, however, investigated 11 of the investments - a cross-section of the AARC portfolio - and said they had not produced any new jobs so far. Moreover, his investigators found evidence of fraud in seven of the cases, and said that in eight of the cases the applicants failed to contributed any of their own funds to the enterprises, as required by law. None of the 11 businesses were named. The corporation is scheduled to close its doors Jan. 28, and the investments would then become the responsibility of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. The Clinton administration sought to increase the corporation's budget from $3.5 million in 1999 to $10 million in 2000 but was rebuffed by congressional appropriators, who have long been concerned about its investments, Senate aides said. As an alternative, the program's supporters tried to get Congress to authorize CoBank, a quasi-governmental institution that lends to farmer-owned cooperatives, to take over the AARC's investment authority, but Congress never acted on the idea before adjourning last November. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is expected to continue pushing the CoBank proposal next year. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
