An Alexandria business is accusing a Brandon man, Brian John Poepping, of defrauding them out of over $500,000. Poepping has been charged with two counts of felony theft by swindle and is facing a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $100,000 fine.
Poepping began working at the business in April 2021 and established his own company in December of the same year. The fraudulent activities are said to have taken place from February 3, 2022, to November 9, 2023. During this time, $544,405.40 was paid to Poepping’s company for services and materials that were never provided or received.
An investigation revealed that Poepping had altered invoices using White-Out and had forged his initials to approve them. He also used multiple bank accounts to avoid reporting larger transactions and immediately transferred or spent the money after depositing it.
Poepping confessed to the theft in a text message to his former employer. The state plans to prosecute the case as a major economic crime under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. Travis Gulbrandson, who covers Osakis School Board, Osakis City Council, Brandon-Evansville School Board will focus on reporting on this case.
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