Kansas welcomed a pawn shop for the rich in exchange for a promise of rural development

As Brad Heppner faces allegations of fraud and the SEC investigates his former business, legislators still support his new endeavor

By Sherman Smith

Kansas Reflector

Brad Heppner’s vision to transform his hometown’s main street into a thriving commercial hub is so breathtaking, local and state officials would rather not question the operations of a uniquely regulated trust company he describes as a pawn shop for rich people.

Few in the Kansas Legislature, or even the investment world, understood Heppner’s b...