Date: 06-16-2016

Case Style: United States of America v. Chad Michael Saeugling

Case Number: 16-CR-1023-LRR

Judge: Linda R. Reade

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (Lynn County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Timothy L. Vavricek

Defendant's Attorney: Jill M. Johnston

Description: Cedar Rapids, IA - Peosta Warehouseman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $400,000 And to Making False Statements to Obtain Loans

A Dubuque area man, who sold over $400,000 worth of goods from his employer using the Internet, pled guilty today to mail and financial fraud charges in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Chad Michael Saeugling, 39, currently from Asbury, Iowa, was convicted of one count of mail fraud and two counts of making a false statement to a financial institution.

At the plea hearing, and in a written plea agreement, Saeugling admitted he was employed as a supervisor at a Peosta, Iowa, warehouse between 2004 and 2014. Beginning no later than calendar year 2009, and continuing until August 2014, Saeugling executed a scheme to defraud his employer by selling the company’s goods on the Internet. Specifically, Saeugling advertised goods found in the warehouse on eBay, an Internet marketplace. Once an eBay shopper paid him for items, often using PayPal, Saeugling placed his own UPS or FedEx shipping label on the stolen goods, and then shipped the stolen goods out of the warehouse along with the items the company was shipping to its customers. Saeugling then, to further evade detection, used his access to the computerized inventory system to falsely adjust the stolen item out of the company’s inventory.

Shortly after Saeugling’s mail fraud scheme was discovered (and his employer fired him), Saeugling agreed to purchase a house from his father. In order to secure a home mortgage loan for the property in late 2014, Saeugling made a false statement concerning his income to a federally insured credit union. Saeugling also falsely told the credit union that his father had gifted him $22,000 to purchase the home when, in truth, Saeugling had previously supplied his father with the money, which his father then routed through two different bank accounts before providing the it back to Saeugling at the time of closing on the home.

Finally, in early 2015, Saeugling and his wife applied for a home-equity loan on the house he had purchased from his father. In that application he submitted false statements to his credit union. To receive the home equity loan, Saeugling later made another false statement to the credit union concerning his income.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Saeugling remains free subject to certain terms and conditions pending sentencing. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 80 years’ imprisonment, a $2.25 million fine, $300 in special assessments, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office.

Outcome: Guilty

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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