Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $1.3M From Dealership
In federal court, a man from Minnesota has admitted to embezzling over $1.3 million from his employer, I-State Truck Centers, over several years.
Leon Arthur Keener, aged 55, residing in Hugo, confessed his guilt last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on charges of mail fraud.
Image: I-State Truck Centers.
He exploited his managerial position from 2015 to 2022 to siphon off funds from the company. Keener joined the Minneapolis-based truck dealership and repair facility in 2011, according to court records.
As the body shop and service manager at the Inver Grove Heights branch, Keener wielded authority to write off repair expenses not covered by insurance and to generate purchase orders. He diverted over $562,000 from reimbursement checks intended for vehicle repairs, claiming insurance rejections necessitated the company to absorb the costs.
Additionally, Keener submitted fictitious vendor requests totaling more than $750,000 and pocketed the funds. He established a sham entity named CR Services, registered it as an authorized vendor for I-State, and employed mail services to execute the fraudulent vendor payments.
The success of his scheme was facilitated by Keener's fabrication of vendor payments for items such as paint and vehicle parts, which were challenging to monitor or inventory. He further manipulated records and obstructed other I-State employees from participating in the approval process, as per court documentation.