Ex-Mamtek CEO pleads guilty to theft, fraud

A man who persuaded a rural Missouri town and the state to invest millions in bonds and incentives for an artificial sweetener plant that never materialized pleaded guilty Tuesday to three felony charges.

Under the plea agreement, Bruce Cole, 67, could receive a sentence of five to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of securities fraud and one count of theft.

According to the Associated Press, Cole was CEO of Mamtek U.S. Inc., a company Cole formed to produce artificial sweetener. Cole convinved the small Missouri city of Moberly in 2010 to issue $39 million in bonds for the plant where Cole said 600 would be employed. The state authorized up to $17 million in incentives, which were never paid out.

The plant never came to fruition, as financing collapsed before construction finished. Mamtek defaulted on the debt in August 2011 and Moberly defauled on the bonds.

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