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in petitioner's checking account and used it to pay petitioner's
suppliers. Petitioner paid interest on its loans from banks.
Petitioner did not execute notes to any of its suppliers.
Petitioner had about four major competitors in the Hastings,
Florida, area which sold the same products as petitioner and
extended credit to their customers. However, unlike petitioner,
they did not visit their customers on their farms or offer credit
terms as flexible as petitioner's.
Many of the farmers in the Hastings area believed they would
not have been able to survive in farming without Ward's help.
Ward gave personal assistance to many farmers when they faced
severe financial problems. Roger McDonald (McDonald) was a young
farmer who at one time had no money to buy seed or fertilizer.
He asked Ward for help around 1986 or 1987. Ward borrowed money
to buy seed and fertilizer for McDonald and to provide an income
for McDonald and his son and obtained contracts for McDonald to
sell his potatoes.
Jack Lee (Lee) was a farmer who needed money in the early
1990's. Ward went to another farmer named William W. Wells
(Wells) and asked him to help Lee. Ward and Wells obtained
contracts for Lee's crops and advanced a salary to Lee and his
son.
Robert Larry Byrd and William Randolph Byrd II owned a farm
where they grew potatoes and corn. At a time not described in
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Last modified: May 25, 2011