President Of Dallas Beverage Company Indicted For Obstruction Of Justice

DALLAS, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The President of EarthWater Limited, a Dallas-based beverage company, was charged in an indictment with obstructing justice in connection with an ongoing federal investigation.

Beth Ellen DeGroot, 59, of Plano, was arrested and appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee H. Toliver of the Northern District of Texas. She was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice.

Harley E. Barnes III, aka Buddy Barnes, and five other individuals had been previously indicted by a Dallas grand jury for their alleged roles in a high-yield investment fraud scheme involving EarthWater, a company that manufactured and sold bottled water it claimed was infused with special minerals mined from an 80-million-year-old deposit hidden in a secret location. Barnes was EarthWater's Chief Financial Officer.

According to the indictment, DeGroot was EarthWater's Vice President; following Barnes' arrest, DeGroot was promoted to President and partnered with Barnes to continue to use EarthWater to raise money, including by selling stock.

The indictment alleges that, as part of an ongoing investigation, DeGroot was served with a subpoena for documents. In response to the subpoena, DeGroot corruptly concealed the existence of certain emails and other communications relating to Barnes and DeGroot's plan to sell EarthWater securities by, among other things, altering a document to deliver to the federal grand jury. Allegedly, DeGroot corruptly attempted to obstruct, influence and impede the ongoing investigation by misleading the grand jury and federal law enforcement about her receipt of funds from Barnes. DeGroot falsely claimed she had not received any money from Barnes when, according to the indictment, she had.