Pottawattamie County Resident Sentenced to Prison for Scheme to Defraud Former Employer

Topics:  Bradley R. Cornelsen, MV Transportation

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Iowa
31 March 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - On March 31, 2017, Bradley R. Cornelsen, age 40, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to 48 months’ imprisonment following his convictions on five counts of wire fraud. Additionally, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment, and was ordered to pay $1,400,320 in restitution to the victim of his scheme to defraud, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel.

A jury convicted Cornelsen at trial on November 1, 2016, finding him guilty of five counts of wire fraud. This case was the result of an investigation by law enforcement of Cornelsen’s scheme to defraud his former employer, MV Transportation, where he was employed as Chief Financial Officer. The scheme involved paying himself large monetary bonuses that were unauthorized, totaling $297,985. Additionally, in furtherance of the scheme, Cornelsen used his company credit card and company manual checks for multiple personal expenses, including Rolex watches, collector baseball cards, Louis Vuitton luggage, and furniture for his personal residences in Council Bluffs and Okoboji, Iowa. The estimated loss to MV Transportation arising from this fraudulent conduct was determined to be approximately $1.4 million dollars.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.