Co-Op's GM Allegedly Defrauded Company For Hunting Trips, Safaris
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man from Dalton, Minnesota is charged with committing mail fraud at the company where he worked as a general manger.
Jerome Robert Hennessey, 56, has been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office Minnesota district, and is accused of defrauding the Ashby Farmer's Co-Operative Elevator Company during a span of time stretching from 2003 through this year.
Authorities were contacted by the co-op after concerns arose over a number of payments that Hennessy allegedly made to himself, or for his own personal expenses.
The U.S. Attorney's Office details a number of checks Hennessey wrote to himself for tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The affidavit even alleges payments over $1 million to Hennessey's personal Cabela's Visa card, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for hunting trips, taxidermy and safaris.
The attorney's office says that a few acquaintances claimed Hennessey fled to Des Moines, Iowa after being informed by the co-op that they wanted to meet over suspicious payments. He allegedly told them that he had taken money from the co-op and was "in a lot of trouble."
