Jerome Robert Hennessey, Mail Fraud and Income Tax Evasion, Minnesota 2019

A former grain elevator manager in Minnesota has been sentenced to 96 months in prison for a $5 million fraud scheme and tax evasion.

Jerome Robert Hennessey, 56, of Dalton, Minnesota, was sentenced on [date] in U.S. District Court in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, for one count of mail fraud and one count of income tax evasion.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Hennessey used his position as general manager of the Ashby Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company to steal millions of dollars from the company from 2003 to September 2018.

Hennessey wrote hundreds of checks to himself and third parties for personal expenses, including renovations to his residence, the purchase of real estate, furniture, jewelry, all-terrain vehicles, and expensive hunting trips.

He also obtained a line of credit for more than $7 million to cover the company's legitimate expenses and to cover the millions of dollars he stole.

In total, Hennessey stole approximately $5,338,922.21 from the company.

As part of his sentence, Hennessey was also ordered to pay $5,338,922.21 in restitution to the Ashby Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company and serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Grant County Sheriff's Office, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kokkinen prosecuted the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/former-grain-elevator-manager-sentenced-96-months-prison-5-million-fraud-scheme-tax