Former CEO of California creamery to plead guilty to making false statements to lender

Ex-Calif. creamery CEO to plead guilty to lying

EUREKA, Calif. — The former chief executive of a California creamery plans to plead guilty to a single federal charge of making false statements to a bank.

Rich Ghilarducci is charged with providing false financial information to CoBank, one of Humboldt Creamery’s lenders, between November 2007 and August 2008.

In a statement Tuesday, Ghilarducci’s attorney, Elliot Peters, told the Eureka Times-Standard his client plans to plead guilty.

Ghilarducci abruptly resigned from the 80-year-old Humboldt Creamery in February 2009 and warned the company of potential discrepancies in its financial records.

Soon after, the creamery filed for bankruptcy and was sold to $19.25 million to the Modesto-based Foster Farms Dairy at auction.

Information from: Times-Standard, www.times-standard.com