Kirkwood Man Sentenced for Stealing Almost 4 Million Dollars from His Former Employer

Topics:  The Boyd Group

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri
13 February 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Louis, MO – Bryan G. Vonderahe, 45, of Kirkwood, Missouri, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, and ordered to pay approximately 3.8 Million Dollars in restitution to his former employer following his conviction for wire fraud. Vonderahe appeared in federal court today before U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White.

According to court documents, beginning during January 2012 and continuing through January 2019, Vonderahe schemed to defraud The Boyd Group and its affiliated companies where he was employed as chief financial officer and controller. After setting himself up as a sham vendor, Vonderahe issued approximately 500 company checks to himself during that period of time, totaling approximately 3.8 million dollars, without the knowledge or authority of the company’s ownership. Vonderahe falsified internal company records and issued false financial statements to the company’s outside auditors in order to cover up and conceal his lengthy and substantial fraud scheme. Vonderahe used the stolen and embezzled funds for his own personal use, unrelated to the legitimate business of the company, including to pay for luxury automobiles; to pay for travel for himself and his family to locations such as Florida, Colorado, and Nevada; to make payments on his personal residential mortgage; and to pay for gambling and related activities. The United States forfeited several of Vonderahe’s luxury automobiles, including a Range Rover and a Cadillac Escalade, as well as his personal residence at 1943 Windy Hill Road in Kirkwood, Missouri.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.