South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley told a legislative committee today (Tuesday) that an arrest warrant had been prepared for former state economic development director Richard Benda.
The Government Operations and Audit Committee has been looking into the financial dealings around the now closed Northern Beef Packers plant in Aberdeen. Benda had left state government, and was working with one of the developers connected to the packing plant.
Jackley says a grand jury was looking into the situation.
Benda was found dead in a Charles Mix County shelterbelt last October. His death was ruled a suicide.
Jackley says while the committee and legislature have broad investigative powers, the EB5 program that provided much of the financing in question is a federal program.
