Airdate: June 4^th, 2008

The natural gas industry is booming in the natural state.

The Fayetteville Shale is producing jobs, income and opportunity.

But one business recently went bust, leaving employees short on both answers and cash.

We met with about a dozen men and women who worked for Lyincco Oil Field Services up until about three weeks ago.  That is when the Searcy business shut its doors.

(Chris McKee/Foreman) “We come in on the 15th and our checks wasn't any good.  And we couldn't work for free.  And he said that's all it was…he didn't care about us.”

(Barbara Moore/Secretary) “I'm owed about three thousand dollars and I've been looking but I haven't found anything yet. And a lot of them haven't.”

Collectively these employees say they were issued hot checks totaling close to thirty thousand dollars.

Their former boss, Garold Bennett Jr. faces 19 felony hot check charges.

We visited Bennett's Judsonia home but no one answered his door.

Other businesses in Little Rock, Searcy and elsewhere say Bennett owes them in the neighborhood of $100 thousand dollars.

The former Lyincco employees say business was good, the contracts and money were rolling in, and why they are without jobs and paychecks remains a mystery.

(McKee) “I would love to see him pay us and for him to go to prison for this.  He deserves it.”

(Moore) “I hate to say…I don't want him to go to jail, but if he can't pay everyone that is what he kind of deserves.”

Garold Bennett is due in court in White County on June 25th.

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