COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Most investors in a failed Missouri factory project will soon receive small repayments, according to bondholder trustee UMB Bank.
UMB Bank said in a notice filed with federal regulators that checks will go out this week for about 6 cents on every $1 to most people who owned bonds in the failed Mamtek U.S. sucralose factory in Moberly. The money that is being distributed to investors, $2.1 million, represents proceeds of an equipment auction held Oct. 24 and a portion of the remaining reserves, the bank said.
The bank is retaining $1 million to pay future bankruptcy court expenses, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported Friday (http://bit.ly/UV7XkS).
Mamtek received $39 million in industrial development bonds from the city of Moberly to build the sweetener plant. Construction stalled after a bond payment was missed in August 2011. Authorities have accused the owner, Bruce Cole, of using bond revenues for personal purposes and misleading investors.
Cole, who is being held in the Randolph County Jail, faces one felony count of stealing and four counts of securities fraud. Court-appointed public defender Raymond Legg said the case has not reached a point where Cole would enter a plea. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22.