Polar Air Cargo Executive Gets Four Years for Kickbacks, Fraud

Lars Winkelbauer, of Bangkok, Thailand, was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc. of more than $32 million dollars in revenue, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Winkelbauer previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, the agency said. He and and three co-defendants were senior executives of Polar who agreed to accept millions in kickbacks from six vendor defendants.

The executives reaped substantial financial benefits as a result of their secret ownership interests in certain Polar vendors, in exchange for ensuring that those vendors ...