A former executive at the center of a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme aimed at Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of White Plains-based Atlas Air Holdings, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud.
Between roughly 2009 and 2021, Robert Schirmer and nine other individuals participated in the scheme – Schirmer and three codefendants were senior executives of Polar and six co-defendants (the “vendor defendants”) owned and operated various Polar vendors and customers. The executives agreed to accept millions of dollars in kickbacks from the vendor defendants and profited from their secret ownership interests in certain Polar vendors, in exchange for ensuring that those vendors received favorable business arrangements with Polar.
According to the charges brought against Schirmer, the scheme touched nearly every aspect of the company’s operations for over a decade. Schirmer and the other executives, either directly or through various limited liability companies they controlled, pocketed approximately $23 million in kickback payments or disbursements as a result of their ownership of conflicted companies.
Schirmer, who faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, also agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $983,759.32 and to make restitution to Polar in the amount of $9,340,729. He will be sentenced on Feb. 13, 2024.
