Texas businessman Brad Heppner’s insistence on construction of a grandiose $20 million grocery store in Hesston proved too complicated for the project to get off the ground before the unsealing of an indictment alleging he orchestrated a $150 million financial fraud. Federal charges against Heppner, who was CEO of the Beneficient company in Dallas and a founder of the Beneficient Heartland Foundation in Hesston, were revealed days before an interim committee of the Kansas Legislature convened to review activities tied to Beneficient. The Legislature several years ago ordered state regulators to issue a unique bank charter to fuel Beneficient’s business catering to wealthy investors trying to unload illiquid assets. In exchange, Heppner promised to fund rural economic development in Kansas. The House-Senate oversight committee was keen to hear from Beneficient executives after Heppner’s indictment for purportedly pilfering $150 million from a now-defunct company. Officials say the cash was funneled through Beneficient into other business entities for Heppner’s personal use. The U.S. Department of Justice gave no indication the alleged malfeasance involved the Heartland Foundation. The bipartisan legislative committee also was eager for an update on the effort to deliver on Heppner’s 2022 promise to build a grocery store in Hesston, where he grew up. Hesston has 3,400 residents and has been without a grocery store since 2018. Financing for the downtown grocery store would be derived from the Heartland Foundation. It was established with an initial donation of about $6.5 million from Heppner and his wife, Aurelia. Cash or stock generated by Beneficient’s asset-management business would be sent to the foundation. Denise Goevert, chair of the board of directors of Beneficient Heartland Foundation, told state legislators that Heppner’s absence from the grocery store conversation in Hesston would allow community members to take the lead. It should clear the path for a more basic store costing less than $10 million, she said.
Read more: Kansas Reflector
