Griffith company sued by vendors for nonpayment
By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com January 18, 2013 1:53PM
Bakker Produce, photographed Friday January 18, 2013 on Main Street in downtown Griffith, Ind., is the subject of several lawsuits related to financial problems. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Updated: February 20, 2013 6:10AM
A federal lawsuit claims longtime local company Bakker Produce has failed to pay more than $160,000 it owes and that several checks it wrote have bounced.
However, a person with the company said it has no plans to close.
Four companies — Superior Sales Inc., Jap Produce Inc., Ruby Robinson Company Inc. and Strube Celery & Vegetable Co. — claim in their suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, that Bakker has failed to pay $166,382 owed to them. The company has admitted it owes the money and has even written several checks to cover part of the debt, according to court filings.
Those checks, however, bounced.
The plaintiffs are asking that a federal judge bar Bakker from moving any of its assets until it has paid the debt.
Bakker Produce sells produce to schools, grocery stores and other groups in throughout northern Indiana and northern Illinois. The company started in the 1960s in Highland although it is now located in Griffith.
