YAKIMA, Washington â Two major creditors Wednesday, July 14, dropped their opposition to the sale of Easterday farms, clearing the way for the Mormon church to buy an Eastern Washington family farm brought down by debt and fraud.
Prudential Insurance Co. and Equitable Life Insurance agreed to withdraw their objections during a mid-hearing break in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Yakima. In return, they are guaranteed to receive most, if not all, of the millions of dollars owed them by Cody Easterday, his wife, mother and their companies.
The parties, returning from the closed conference, outlined the agreement to Judge Whitman Holt, settling a dispute that had threatened to block the $209 million acquisition by Farmland Reserve Inc., affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.