Richard Lang, Wire Fraud, Nebraska 2023

Richard Lang, Wire Fraud, Nebraska 2023

A scheme to defraud auto parts dealers has led to the downfall of a Council Bluffs man. Richard Lang, age 43, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, pleaded guilty in federal court today in Omaha, Nebraska.

According to the United States Attorney Joe Kelly, Lang and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme in which they obtained property from auto parts stores under false pretenses. Lang and the co-conspirators went to auto parts stores, including NAPA Auto Parts, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Bauer Built Tire & Service, Allied Oil & Tire, and GCR Tire & Service, and obtained items, including tires, by falsely claiming to be associated with other business entities.

The scheme was perpetrated on at least 70 occasions among auto parts stores in Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. They perpetrated the scheme more than 30 times at auto parts stores in Omaha. At least about $67,000 in property was obtained via the scheme.

Lang faces up to five years in prison. Senior United States District Judge Laurie Smith Camp will sentence Lang following the completion of a presentence report. Daniel Hendrickson, one of Lang's co-conspirators, pleaded guilty to the same crime on July 28, 2020, in federal court in Omaha.

The case was investigated by Omaha Police Department, the Bellevue Police Department, the Fremont, Nebraska Police Department, the Council Bluffs, Iowa Police Department, the Des Moines, Iowa Police Department, the Blue Earth, Minnesota Police Department, and the United States Secret Service.

Richard Lang, a 43-year-old resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska. He faces up to five years in prison and a loss of at least $67,000.

The exact date of the scheme was between February 11, 2018, and May 17, 2018.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ne/pr/council-bluffs-man-pleads-guilty-multistate-scheme-defraud-auto-parts-dealers