A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $1.3 million from his employer, I-State Truck Centers, in a multiyear scheme.
Leon Arthur Keener, 55, of Hugo, pleaded guilty last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to mail fraud after he used his position as manager from 2015 through 2022 to pocket company money. Keener began working for the Minneapolis-based truck dealer and repair shop in 2011, court documents say.
While working at the Inver Grove Heights location as the body shop and service manager, Keener had the authority to write off repair costs not covered by insurance and to create purchase orders. He misappropriated more than $562,000 in reimbursement checks intended to cover repairs to vehicles and said insurance companies refused to pay the cost, requiring I-State to absorb the loss.
Keener also submitted more than $750,000 in fake vendor requests and swiped the money. He created a shell company called CR Services, which he set up as an approved vendor for I-State, and used the mail to facilitate the fake vendor payments.
The scheme was successful because Keener made fake vendor payments for items such as paint and vehicle repair parts that were difficult to track or inventory. He also falsified records and kept other I-State employees from being involved in the approval process, court records say.
He spent the stolen cash on luxury cars, a boat and a gambling trip to Las Vegas, according to the plea agreement.
Keener hasn’t yet been sentenced.