Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company owner accused of stealing $21,000 from 83 farmers

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - The owner of a popular cheese factory faces a felony theft charge after prosecutors say he stole more than $20,000 from 83 farmers.

Michael J. Moran, co-owner and former president Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Co. Inc., 6860 State 34, Rudolph, was charged in Wood County Circuit Court, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced Thursday.

"Wisconsin's dairy farmers are in the midst of a crisis," Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement Thursday. "It's particularly galling that theft alleged in this case resulted in money being stolen from milk producers during such a difficult time."

Cheese plants typically write checks to farmers when the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the price of milk higher than what the plant initially paid, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors say that from January 2012 to April 2018, Moran forged 83 farmers’ signatures on the backs of those checks, put them into the cash register at his store and then deposited them in the bank at the end of the week.

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A total of 83 farmers reported a collective loss of $21,250.97, according to the Justice Department. Of those victims, 21 are older than 60.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation, with help from the USDA Office of Inspector General.

In February 2017, the USDA received a complaint that Moran was forging signatures and depositing the checks, according to a criminal complaint the DOJ filed Tuesday. An employee told the USDA that Moran said, "I've been doing this for many years and the Federal Order auditors have never caught on to this," the complaint states.

In June 2017, a USDA compliance officer contacted a farmer, who reviewed seven checks made out to him from the business, according to the complaint. The farmer said he'd never seen, signed or cashed the checks, nor had he ever gotten the money. He said the signatures on the checks were not his and were not how he signed checks.

The farmer's wife later told a DCI special agent she called Moran in August 2018 to ask about the checks, but that he became defensive, told her she needed to wait for the USDA auditor and hung up, according to the complaint.

In November 2018, the DCI agent contacted the farmer and reviewed 12 more checks made out in his name but that he hadn't signed, cashed or deposited.

While Moran remains part owner of the company, he no longer serves as president or a board member and "no longer has any ability to direct operations of the business," said Stewart Etten, a Wausau-based attorney representing Dairy State Cheese.

"Obviously, the company is saddened by the allegations made against Mr. Moran," Etten told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter Thursday. "He gave his life to the business and the surrounding community. We understand that anybody who's suffered losses as a result of this activity are going to be compensated."

Relco LLC, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of cheesemaking equipment, filed an $87,000 construction lien against Moran and Dairy State Cheese in August 2019. Moran paid off the full amount Jan. 14, according to online court records.

Perhaps the village's most iconic business, Dairy State produces a variety of cheese products, including curds, spreads, whey protein powder and specialty cheeses, and operates an adjacent cheese store about 9 miles north of Wisconsin Rapids.

Dairy State earned the title of Business of the Year from the Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce in 2006.

If convicted, Moran could face up to 10 years in prison. His first court hearing is set for Feb. 24 in Wood County.

Contact Nathaniel Shuda at 920-426-6632 or nshuda@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @onwnshuda or Facebook at facebook.com/onwnshuda.