A former Delta Air Lines employee was sentenced Tuesday to nearly seven years for a $36 million fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported Tuesday.
Paul Anderson has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Northwest and Delta Air Lines of more than $36 million, Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said.
Anderson and Michael Yedor milked the airlines by submitting false invoices for work that was never done by a company —- Airborne Voice and Data— allegedly owned by Yedor, Horn said.
The scheme began in 1999 as a fraud against Northwest, which was purchased by Delta in 2008, and continued until 2013, officials said. In order to receive payment for the false invoices, Yedor sent the invoices to Anderson, who had the authority to approve them for payment, Horn said.
Anderson, an employee since 1977, falsely confirmed Airborne Voice and Data had peformed the services.
Both men acknowledged stealing more than $36 million, Horn said.
“The defendant’s lucrative and long-running scheme came crashing down when Delta uncovered his deception and informed law enforcement,” Horn said in a prepared statement. “For more than a decade, Anderson used his position of trust within these airline companies to steal millions of dollars from the airlines for himself and a co-defendant.”
Anderson, 57, of Apple Valley, Minn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten to six years, eight months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Batten sentenced Yedor, 62, of Los Angeles, on Jan. 9,to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Both men are ordered to repay the $36 million. Yedor also had to forfeit a Beverly Hills mansion and a 72-foot yacht.
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