Massive Embezzlement Admitted At Iowa-Based Financial Firm

Russell Wasendorf

Russell Wasendorf, Sr., 64, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been charged with making and using false statements in connection with a $215 million embezzlement scheme he has reportedly admitted to having engaged in over a period of nearly 20 years at the financial firm he ran as CEO, Peregrine Financial Group, Inc.  According to reports, Wasendorf admitted in a statement to FBI investigators that he personally doctored bank statements to enable him to embezzle the funds from client accounts.  In his statement, Wasendorf explained, “Using a combination of Photoshop, Excel, scanners, and both laser and ink jet printers I was able to make very convincing forgeries of nearly every document that came from the bank.”  Wasendorf was found earlier this week after an apparent suicide attempt in his car.  A suicide note was left for his wife and son, also executives of Peregrine.

Read the story here, here, here and here.

Read the criminal complaint here.

Update (1/13/13): Wasendorf was sentenced to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay $215.5 million in restitution.