Former Wichita Cargill employee sentenced to prison, ordered to pay back $33.7 million
A former senior-level Cargill employee in Wichita has been sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $33.7 million in restitution for his role in a bribery and kickback scheme.
Michael Kennedy, 56, of Wichita, was employed by Cargill from 2009 to 2016 in the company’s Strategic Sourcing Function department, according to a news release from the U.S. district attorney’s office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Others involved in the bribery scheme included Choung Nguyen, a procurement manager who reported to Kennedy, and Brian Ewert, co-owner and the primary sales representative for Women’s Distribution Services, a South Carolina-based company that provided raw materials and services to Cargill, the release said.
According to court documents, Kennedy, Nguyen and other employees accepted gifts from Ewert and WDS in exchange for “putting the interests of WDS and other companies Ewert controlled ahead of Cargill’s,” the release said.
Kennedy and Ewert took numerous steps to hide that WDS was overcharging Cargill, and in turn, Ewert gave Kennedy Nguyen and other Cargill employees over a million dollars in cash, gifts and vacations, according to the release.
“Ewert provided Kennedy and his family with lavish trips that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, including trips to the Caribbean on Ewert’s private jet and luxury yacht rentals to entertain Kennedy and his family,” the release said. Kennedy’s family also went to Disney World and skiing.
In 2016, Cargill began questioning the relationship with WDS. Cargill discovered the scheme, ended its relationship with WDS and fired Kennedy and Nguyen.
Kennedy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in December 2021. In addition to time in prison, Kennedy was ordered to pay restitution of $33.7 million, according to the release.
Earlier, Ewert and Nguyen were sentenced to 60 months and 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $40.4 million in restitution.
Jennifer Maier, co-owner and CEO of WDS, was sentenced to two years in prison followed by a year of parole. She was ordered to pay $3.2 million dollars in restitution, the release said.
The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.