Editor’s Note: Our original story contained the wrong last name of the defendant. We have updated the story to correct that error.

A criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court charges a Woodbury man with one count of theft by swindle. Justin A. Butler is accused of falsifying documents in the sale of two Duck Donut franchises.

The buyer, an adult male identified only by his initials, LDS, paid $975,000 on Nov. 14, 2022 for a store at the Mall of America and another one at 7455 Currell Blvd. in Woodbury. He contacted Woodbury police after growing suspicious when the stores were not as profitable as Butler had claimed, especially the catering part of the business. The buyer also hired a forensic computer firm.

“The forensic analysis revealed that the defendant had edited several of the PDF documents that were supplied to LDS,” the complaint states. “The edited documents purported to show that the businesses were profitable, however in reality, the businesses were losing a considerable amount of money prior to being sold to LDS.”

Butler then arranged to buy back the businesses from LDS who had filed for bankruptcy. LDS said he lost $300,000 due to the fraudulent sale, according to the court document.

An operations manager for the Duck Donuts franchises in 2020 to 2023 told police the locations were losing $20,000 to $30,000 a month. He said in July 2022 Butler offered to sell him the locations for $400,000, and then dropped the price to $350,000 after he reacquired the stores from LDS.

Butler told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he had no knowledge of the criminal complaint and had no comment on it. The court document provides no connection between the felony charge and Baker’s job as the chief risk officer for St. Paul-based Bremer Bank.