Grimy Times has learned that Lars Winkelbauer, the former Chief Operating Officer of International Cargo Airline Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a massive scheme to defraud his employer of more than $32 million dollars in revenue.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, Winkelbauer, 48, of Bangkok, Thailand, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The scheme, which lasted from 2009 to 2021, involved Winkelbauer and at least nine other individuals, including senior executives and vendors of Polar.
The scheme, which affected nearly every aspect of Polar’s operations for over a decade, saw Winkelbauer and his co-conspirators accept millions of dollars in kickbacks from vendors in exchange for favorable business arrangements with Polar. Winkelbauer personally received kickbacks connected to approximately 11 separate vendors or customers of Polar totaling over $6 million.
As part of the scheme, Winkelbauer attempted to conceal the illegal kickback payments through a sophisticated money laundering scheme, including via falsified invoices and the use of shell companies in China. The scheme led to pervasive corruption of Polar’s business, causing tens of millions of dollars of harm to the company.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, saying, “Lars Winkelbauer abused his high-level position at Polar for over a decade, extracting millions of dollars in kickbacks for himself and causing tens of millions of dollars of harm to the company. The substantial sentence imposed today sends an important message: corporate corruption doesn’t pay.”
In addition to the prison term, Winkelbauer was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $6,774,039.30 and make restitution to Polar in the amount of $32,902,847. The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Reilly, Danielle Kudla, Kevin Mead, and Qais Ghafary in charge of the prosecution.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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