Four former senior executives of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc., of Purchase, have been accused of accepting more than $23 million in kickbacks from vendors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the executives and six representatives of various vendors with fraud, in an indictment filed April 12 in U.S. District Court, Manhattan.
“The fraud they perpetrated led to pervasive corruption of Polar’s business,” the indictment states, “touching nearly every aspect of the company’s operations for over a decade.”
The alleged kickback scheme cost the international cargo carrier about $52 million in losses from 2009 to July 2021, according to the indictment.
Polar Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, a publicly-traded airline valued at $2.9 billion by market capitalization, also headquartered in Purchase. Atlas owns 51% of Polar. DHL Express courier service owns 49%.
The executives charged in the alleged schemes are Lars Winkelbauer, 47, of Bangkok, Thailand; Abilash Kurien, 45, of Wilton, Connecticut; Carlton Llewellyn, 55, of Highland Mills, Orange County; and Robert Schirmer, 58, of Port Jefferson Station, Suffolk County.
They allegedly used their positions to manipulate contracts to their advantage.
Winkelbauer was vice president of marketing, revenue management and network planning, and later, the chief operating officer. Kurien was director of business development and excellence. Llewellyn was vice president of operations, system performance and quality. Schirmer was director of customer services.
The indictment cites three unnamed co-conspirators, including a Polar director of global sales and a vice president of sales and marketing.
The executives steered business to certain vendors, according to the indictment, and ensured them favorable shipping rates and incentives. In return, they received kickbacks or distributions from companies they secretly owned.
For instance, Winkelbauer, Kurien and two co-conspirators allegedly owned Ultimate Logistics GSA, a Bridgewater, New Jersey trucking, warehousing and distribution company.
The executives bypassed the competitive bidding process, according to the indictment, and arranged for Ultimate Logistics to serve as its sales agent in the Chicago region for selling cargo space on planes.
Ultimate paid $7 million in profits from the Polar deal, the indictment states, to companies controlled by Winkelbauer, Kurien and the co-conspirators.
Polar also works with companies that handle on-the-ground logistics at airports.
Winkelbauer, Kurien, Llewellyn and a co-conspirator allegedly formed A-1 Handling in 2019 to replace a ground services company at Los Angeles International Airport.
A-1 got the contract, “despite internal opposition” from other employees of Polar and Atlas Air, according to the indictment.
A-1 also was chosen to provide warehousing services in Chicago, despite being one of the highest-cost bidders for the contract. In 2020 and 2021, the indictment states, Polar paid $5 million to A-1 for ground handling services.
The former Polar executives were charged with honest services wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
They were fired in July 2021, according to the indictment, after Polar discovered evidence of  “conflicted ownership arrangements and kickback agreements.”
Six vendor defendants from California, Florida and New York also were charged
Attorneys representing Llewellyn and Kurien did not respond to emails requesting comments on behalf of their clients. Winkelbauer and Schirmer do not have attorneys yet, according to the case docket.
Assistant federal prosecutors Danielle M. Kudla and Katherine C. Reilly are handling the case for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
