Former Chief Financial Officer at Publicly Traded Transportation Company Charged with $245 Million S

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-chief-financial-officer-publicly-traded-transportation-company-charged-245-million

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Former Chief Financial Officer at Publicly Traded Transportation Company Charged with $245 Million Securities and Accounting Fraud Scheme; Two Other Defendants Previously Indicted Charged with Additional Offenses

The former chief financial officer (CFO) of Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. (Roadrunner), a publicly traded transportation and trucking company formerly headquartered in Cudahy, Wisconsin, was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed today for his alleged role in a complex securities and accounting fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of more than $245 million in shareholder value. The superseding indictment also includes additional charges against two former Roadrunner finance executives for their roles in the scheme.
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Peter R. Armbruster, 60, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin with various offenses. Mark R. Wogsland, 53, and Bret S. Naggs, 52, both of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and both of whom were charged in the initial indictment in this case filed in June 2018, were also charged in the superseding indictment with various offenses. All three defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a public company’s accountants and to falsify a public company’s books, records and accounts; two counts of false entries in a public company’s books, records and accounts; one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud; two counts of securities fraud; and two counts of wire fraud. Armbruster and Wogsland were charged with one additional count of securities fraud. Armbruster is also charged with one count of bank fraud; two counts of false statements to a public company’s accountants; one count of false entries in a public company’s books, records, and accounts; and two counts of wire fraud. Wogsland is also charged with two counts of false statements to a public company’s accountants and one count of insider trading. Naggs is also charged with one count of false entries in a public company’s books, records and accounts.
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Armbruster was Roadrunner’s CFO. Wogsland and Naggs are both former controllers for Roadrunner’s Truckload operating segment, and Wogsland also served as director of accounting for Roadrunner’s Truckload operating segment. The superseding indictment alleges that between 2013 and 2017, Armbruster, Wogsland, Naggs and their co-conspirators carried out a complex scheme to mislead Roadrunner’s shareholders, independent auditors, lenders, regulators and the investing public about Roadrunner’s financial condition. Beginning as early as 2014, Armbruster, Wogsland, Naggs and their co-conspirators allegedly concealed millions of dollars in misstated accounts, including uncollectible debts and receivables and assets with little to no value. As alleged in the superseding indictment, Armbruster, Wogsland, Naggs and their co-conspirators determined that most, if not all, of these accounts needed to be written off and even developed a plan to write off or “clean up” some of these misstated accounts in 2015, but did not write off the vast majority of the accounts. According to the allegations, these misstated accounts remained on Roadrunner’s balance sheet until they resurfaced more than two years later after they had grown to between $25 and $50 million, but Armbruster nevertheless again certified that Roadrunner’s financial statements were accurate.

The superseding indictment alleges that, in addition to concealing misstated accounts, Armbruster and his co-conspirators engaged in so-called “cushion” accounting whereby they selectively reduced liability accounts in order to create a “cushion” of funds that the conspirators used to fraudulently inflate Roadrunner’s financial performance in later quarters. The superseding indictment also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Armbruster and his co-conspirators delayed recognizing expenses, including accruals for annual bonuses and expenses for bad debt, and otherwise misstated accounts, in order to fraudulently inflate Roadrunner’s financial performance. The superseding indictment further alleges that Armbruster, Wogsland, Naggs and their co-conspirators concealed their scheme and misled Roadrunner’s shareholders, independent auditors, lenders, regulators and the investing public about Roadrunner’s financial condition.

According to the superseding indictment, in January 2017, Roadrunner announced for the first time that it would be restating its previously reported financial results. Three trading days following the announcement, the price of Roadrunner’s shares dropped from $11.74 to $7.54 per share, causing a loss in shareholder value of more than $160 million. In early 2018, Roadrunner issued restated financial results for 2014 through the third quarter of 2016, acknowledging that it had identified material accounting errors resulting from material weaknesses and management override of internal controls. Three trading days after announcing the restated financial results, Roadrunner’s share price further dropped from $7.14 to $4.90, causing an additional loss in shareholder value of more than $85 million.
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