Middlesex man charged after not paying hemp farmers

A Middlesex man faces charges for not paying hemp farmers for their product.

Police arrested Douglas Bell, 57, on Wednesday, and charged him with theft of service and other charges in cases involving four different central Vermont farms.

As we reported last week, several of the farms switched their operations last summer to grow hemp, and in one case entered into a $50,000 contract with Bell's company, CBD Vermont.

In some cases, they say Bell wrote checks that later bounced.

In all, more than $137,000 is owed to the farmers, but the investigation is ongoing. Police say there are at least 10 other similar cases with a total loss of about $500,000.

Bell is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.