On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell pleaded guilty to shipping contaminated ice cream linked to a 2015 listeria outbreak and agreed to pay a fine of $19.5 million ($17.4 million criminal fine and $2.1 million to settle civil false claims act violations). Blue Bell’s former CEO, Paul Kruse, was separately indicted and charged in seven separate counts for conspiracy and wire fraud for concealing from customers information known to the company about the listeria contamination. His case was later dismissed (but may return) because he was not charged by grand jury indictment.
In this Episode, Tom Fox and Michael Volkov discuss the governance, compliance, and enforcement issues relating to the Blue Bell enforcement action and indictment of its former CEO.
Corruption Crime & Compliance