ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Harvey Ulfers, 64, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been ordered to serve 33 months (2 years, 9 months) in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering. U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow sentenced Ulfers late yesterday. In addition, Judge Darrow ordered Ulfers to pay a fine of $111,602 plus pay restitution in the amount of $259,132 to his former employer, the victim of his offenses. Ulfers was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on July 17, 2017, to begin serving his sentence.
On Nov. 17, 2016, Ulfers pled guilty to the eight counts of the indictment which charged him with wire fraud, money laundering, and money laundering conspiracy. From about 2004 to January 2013, Ulfers defrauded his former employer, Deere & Company, headquartered in Moline, of at least $250,000. Using his position at Deere’s foundry facility in Waterloo, Iowa, Ulfers caused the creation and approval of fraudulent internal documents that allowed significantly undervalued scrap metal to leave the facility. Ulfers conspired with others to obtain the excess value of the scrap after it was sold at scrap yards like Alter Metal Recycling, using a third entity to launder the fraudulent proceeds and provide cash payments to Ulfers.
Ulfers’s co-conspirator, Patrick Williams, 47, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, a former employee of Alter Metal Recycling, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy on April 14, 2016. Judge Darrow sentenced Williams on April 13, 2017, to 27 months in federal prison. Williams was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $259,132.97 to Deere & Company, jointly and severally with Ulfers.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith DeCarlo and Donald Allegro, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Noll assisting with recovery of restitution. The charges were investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The matter initially came to light following internal investigations by Deere & Company and Alter Metal Recycling.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
