Joop Bollen has been issued an indictment by a Brown County grand jury on five counts of unauthorized disposal of personal property subject to security interest, the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday morning.
Bollen headed the EB-5 program for the state when he was in charge of the South Dakota International Business Institute at Northern State University. The program was privatized in 2009 and turned over to SDRC, a company Bollen had founded and for which he served as president, until the state took over management in 2013.
He was originally charged by complaint on March 31 for his role in the financial misconduct case relating to EB5 and SDRC Inc. Bollen is accused of inappropriately transferring money from an account in violation of an agreement with the state.
Authorities allege that Bollen inappropriately transferred the more than $1.2 million on different occasions in 2012 out of the account meant to protect the state, though money in matching amounts was largely put back in to replenish the money taken. They said most of the transfers from the fund in question went directly into his company's main account.
The AG’s office says a Brown County grand jury issued an indictment charging Bollen, 52, of Aberdeen, on Friday. The penalty upon conviction is up to 2 years imprisonment in the state penitentiary and/or $4,000 fine.
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The case is being investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. Bollen is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.
Pursuant to a state request, Bollen has been summoned to appear at the Brown County Courthouse on May 17, 2016 at 1:15 p.m. to be arraigned on the charges.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
