Auction company owner faces embezzlement charges

The owner of the closed Portales Livestock Auction has been charged with embezzling nearly half a million dollars from a customer.

Randy Bouldin, 39, was arrested June 2 on a charge of embezzlement over $20,000, court records show.

He was released on a $10,000 bond the same day.

Bouldin is accused of keeping more than $450,000 for 1,000 head of cattle he sold for a Portales dairy in December 2008, according to a press release from the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s office.

The dairy owners told investigators with the district attorney’s office Bouldin wrote them a worthless check for $478,669 and when the check did not clear, they were unable to collect their money from him, according to the release.

A telephone listing in Bouldin’s name was not a working number.

Bouldin’s attorney Wesley Pool declined to comment on the case.

An investigation by Senior Agent Dan Blair with the district attorney’s office indicated Bouldin deposited the money he received for selling the cattle into his account and spent it for personal uses, the release said.

“If (Bouldin is) convicted, we will work very closely with the victims from the dairy industry to restore justice and collect full restitution in this matter,” District Attorney Matt Chandler was quoted as saying in the release.

Bouldin is facing a maximum sentence of nine years imprisonment.