EB-5 Investor Lawsuit and Counterclaim Dismissed; South Dakota Beef Facility Moves Forward
A lawsuit that threatened construction of a Northern Beef Packers cattle processing facility in South Dakota was dismissed recently, along with a counterclaim. The lawsuit alleged that investors did not receive crucial facts about the project and were not included in key decisions as agreed upon. The processing plant is now close to beginning operations after more than six years battling a variety of issues. The project, which attracted Korean investors in 2009, has been delayed by lawsuits, liens, tax problems, flooding, local opposition, and other issues.
Northern Beef Packers is owned 41 percent by Oshik Song and 69 other Koreans, who each invested $500,000 or more via the EB-5 program. The project also borrowed $30 million under a private loan arrangement and will receive millions more in loans and financial help, once it starts processing cattle, from a state economic development authority and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.