Op Ed: a perspective look on the corruption of CEO Ron Radloff in the largest tobacco cooperative (USTC)

Allow me to start by saying that this article is a follow up of a previous one, and since many people including employees of US Tobacco Cooperative read that article and some even liked it, here we are with the second article…

The funny thing is that Mr. Oscar the previous CEO sent us an email expressing how he liked the first article we wrote about Ron.

I would like to start with the supporting programs for Tobacco manufacturers and we quote Mr. Brad Wenstrup a former U.S. Representative from Ohio “Originating from Congressional actions in 1984 and 2004, this loophole drains $2.2 billion annually from American taxpayers — $22 billion over a decade — according to the Treasury Department. That’s money that could fund tax cuts to support families and businesses here at home. Instead, we’re effectively subsidizing foreign workers and corporations. It’s not just wasteful — it lacks common sense and it’s un-American.” ...

As an owner for a Saudi tobacco importing company, I started negotiations with USTC since Mr. Oscar J House was the CEO, I was confused how the cooperative refused a deal worth over $31 Million as a minimum -especially after just emerging from bankruptcy while the cooperative has commitments of paying $30 Million as an initial payment for the farmers out of $75 Million which must be paid during 12 year period-, and I wonder why Oscar J House insisted on a deal worth only $8 Million conditioned by including a third party in the agreement -and this is another subject of the corruption in USTC which we will discuss in another article-.

The current CEO of USTC Mr. Ron Radloff committed an unethical acts trying to make himself valuable to us, Ron committed the following:

-Ron told us CEO position is looking for his individual interests since the board of members relying on double duty drawback, while fully authorizing the CEO to make the international deals.

-Ron leaked us that the cooperative has built a plant in Dominican Republic to exploit the loophole and claim $1.01 per pack even though the excise taxes were never paid, while USTC can export tobacco products from US as tax exempt.

-Ron Radloff leaked the Saudi competitor that previous CEO Oscar was negotiating to sign with, so we can deal with it.

-When Ron Radloff was a production manager, he drafted many emails for us to forward it as a reply to Oscar’s emails.

-Ron Radloff in a documented message sent to me requesting my connections to interfere to block the attempt of shutting down the loophole when president Trump’s delegation visited Saudi Arabia back in 2025.

Our view on Ron was always that he is an unethical person which you can’t trust this type of men, the negotiations ended after we refused yet again to meet Ron’s illegal demands. The current CEO Ron Radloff demanded a bribe worth $2.1 Million in the form of “consulting contract” which he drafted and sent to us by email and that contract shall be signed under his name or his wife’s name, and when we refused to sign, he blocked the deal for his own personal interests although the legal counsel of USTC Mr. Lee Whitman sent us the contract draft to sign, and while the deal was approved by BOD according to Ron himself via a written message, Ron then threatened with falsely reporting us to the US embassy in Saudi Arabia to revoke our American investment visa if we were to expose his corruption like we did with Oscar.

AEST reported the corruption on October 2025 to the Board of directors of USTC in regards of Ron’s bribery demands ($2.1 million) and also the legal department represented by attorney Lee Whitman as well, and yet Ron was never investigated and remains as the CEO of USTC.

What we find weird is that the current counsel of USTC Mr. Lee Whitman -an outside legal counsel working at Wyrick Robbins law firm- launched an investigation into Oscar and personally asked us to be part of the investigation which led to firing Oscar, however when we reported Ron, Mr. Lee asked us to cut all communications and did not launch any investigation nor asking us for the damning evidence we have against Ron because he knew we have evidences that forces him to start investigation that eventually will prove Ron’s corruption, yet he asked us to never contact Ron Radloff or USTC board of directors or employees!, which raises questions on Mr. Lee Whitman’s behavior which might be considered as selective investigation and double standard, this reflects badly on the good reputation of Wyrick Robbins law firm! And we may contact the administrative leadership at Wyrick Robbins law firm in regards of Mr. Lee Whitman behavior.

Why is this important you may ask?

Transparency and Governance:

There are reasons to report a corrupt CEO, Voluntary Disclosure: Reporting misconduct promptly to authorities, such as the TTB or DOJ, can significantly reduce legal exposure for the cooperative, which USTC didn’t fulfil its internal auditing commitment in Ron’s case and definitely USTC didn’t report voluntarily to either TTB or DOJ about the previous CEO and CFO, USTC did not publish anything about the firing of their previous CEO and CFO or the investigation behind it, BOD have a responsibility to inform all Farmers they represent.

Prevent Further Harm:

Unreported corruption can lead to significant financial losses and damage to employee morale.

Member Trust:

Transparency helps maintain trust within the community and prevents the co-op from being overtaken by corrupt interests.

Accountability:

It is essential to ensure that the co-op meets its objectives and operates within legal boundaries.

Legal & Ethical Obligation:

Combating corruption is a core social responsibility for cooperatives, while Key Aspects of DOJ Voluntary Self-Disclosure (VSD) & DPA/NPA include Company Benefits: If a company voluntarily discloses, cooperates fully, and remediates (including disgorgement/restitution), the DOJ generally will not seek a guilty plea, potentially offering a DPA or NPA instead.

USTC must understand that Ron Radloff lost all respect from employees of USTC and his legitimacy since he was not exonerated or replaced, putting suspicion on every piece of paper he signs whether it’s for contract singing or day to day documents or even layoff policy approvals.

Since the BOD and the legal counsel of USTC failed to hold Ron Radloff accountable for his corruption, we recently reported Ron to the Feds with assistance from our lawyer in North Carolina and shared the evidence with them.

As a result of the protection given by BOD and the legal department of USTC to Ron Radloff to cover the illegal bribery demands and corruption, this may become the foundation of piercing the corporate veil since the company is used as a "façade" or "mask" to hide illegal activities, not to mention the illicit trade and other illegal activities by previous CEO.

I was hoping that Ron stick with his word and his threats to me because I honored my word and disclosed his bribery demands to the media but apparently the cat ate his tongue, and he can not deny any word I wrote, and after reporting Rod to the Feds I think Ron now needs a good expensive criminal lawyer.

We are also going to be taking steps against the previous CEO Oscar House very soon.

BOD should realize by now that with the strait of Hormuz closed, the only ports that are available to ship to is the Western Saudi ports in the red sea, AEST was and is the only option for USTC in GCC region.

Finally, we are ready to cooperate with USTC in good faith once again and we can make them an offer they can’t refuse, if they decide to do the right thing by starting an investigation into Ron Radloff and take the appropriate legal steps, however if the BOD refuses our offer and does nothing to the corruption then it really is all about exploiting the double duty drawback loophole and nothing else.

Next article will be about Mr. Lee Whitman and Oscar J House -previous CEO of USTC-.

Abdul