Four former senior executives of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc. have pled guilty to fraud charges in a $23 million kickback scheme that the government says corrupted nearly every aspect of operations of the White Plains company for a decade.
The executives steered business to various vendors from 2009 to 2021, according to an indictment filed last year in U.S. District Court, Manhattan. In return, they accepted kickbacks and profits from vendors they controlled.
The scheme cost Polar Air tens of millions of dollars.
The executives struck plea deals over the past four months, culminating on Feb. 29. They agreed to forfeit $15.3 million in ill-gotten gains and pay $66.1 million in restitution to Polar Air.
Five of the six vendors charged in the case have also pled guilty, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
The former executives include Lars Winkelbauer, 48, chief operating officer, Bangkok, Thailand; Abilash Kurien, 46, vice president of marketing, Wilton, Connecticut; Carlton Llewellyn, 55, vice president of operations, Highland Mills, Orange County; and Robert Schirmer, 58, director of customer services, Port Jefferson Station, Suffolk County.
Three executives secretly owned or controlled certain vendors, according to court records. They bypassed competitive bidding, ensured that vendors would receive favorable shipping rates, and received kickbacks and portions of vendor profits.
The indictment also refers to three senior executives who were depicted as co-conspirators but not charged.
Polar Air discovered the scheme and fired the executives in 2021.
They pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Winkelbauer and Kurien also admitted to money laundering, and Schirmer to honest services fraud.
Individual forfeitures range from $348,000 to $7.2 million, and restitution from $306,000 to $33.5 million.
The men could be sent to prison for up to five years. Sentencings by Manhattan federal judge Jesse M. Furman are scheduled for March 27 for Schirmer, May 7, Llewellyn, May 30, Winkelbauer, and July 23, Kurien.
Polar Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, a global cargo, aircraft leasing and aviation services company. The corporate headquarters recently moved from the Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors campus in Purchase to downtown White Plains.
