On May 12, 2008, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detained 389 illegal immigrants on Agriprocessors’ premises. Rumors of the raid had been circulating prior to that date. Agriprocessors retained the law firm of Baker & McKenzie, that had negotiated with ICE and with the United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas to avoid a raid on another meat-packing plant. The Baker attorney proposed in a letter that Agriprocessors would cooperate with the authorities in terminating the employment of undocumented aliens, as the intended target of the Texas raid had done. Neither ICE nor the United States Attorney did anything to respond to that letter. ICE dispatched approximately 600 agents, accompanied by a Blackhawk helicopter, to raid the plant.
The ICE raid devastated the Postville plant. Operations never again were close to their pre-raid levels. FBBC nonetheless continued to lend money to Agriprocessors under its line of credit. This arrangement followed a meeting during which Sholom Rubashkin “basically said that the company had complied with the law.†FBBC had known before the raid that Agriprocessors had received no-match letters, but it did not conduct any investigation or even ask what responsive action Agriprocessors had taken.
Several months later, in late October 2008, FBBC called the loan after learning that Agriprocessors had not promptly deposited all customer payments into the “sweep account.†On October 30, 2008, FBBC filed a civil suit against Agriprocessors and against Aaron and Sholom Rubashkin for their personal guaranties on the bank loan. The bank’s losses were alleged to be approximately $21 million. Appellant subsequently provided an asset that settled FBBC’s claim on his guaranty. On November 4, 2008, Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy protection, and a trustee was thereafter appointed.