Former Executive Gets 4 Years in Prison for Defrauding Cargo Airline

Lars Winkelbauer, former executive at Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, was sentenced to four years in prison on May 30 for his role in a scheme to defraud his former employer out of more than $32 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced.

Winkelbauer and "at least nine other individuals," including three other former Polar executives, took part in the scheme from 2009 to 2021. The Polar employees agreed to receive "millions of dollars in kickbacks" from the six co-defendants who "owned and operated various Polar vendors and customers" in exchange for ensuring that the vendors got "favorable business arrangements with Polar," the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

The airline executives allegedly received over $23 million in kickbacks. Winkelbauer, who was Polar's chief operating officer and executive vice president, received over $6 million in kickback payments, from around 11 separate vendors or customers. He was ordered to forfeit over $6.7 million and pay more nearly $33 million in restitution to Polar, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.