The Iowa Attorney General’s office has filed more criminal charges in connection with the Iowa Film Office tax credit scandal. The first set of charges in the case were filed in February of this year and alleged film producers falsely represented the costs of equipment and other items used for film production to be able to collect the film tax credits.
The charges said the rental cost of items such as ladders were greatly inflated and the film producers could have purchased several of the ladders for the amount they claimed to have paid to rent them. The new charges are similar and were filed against Minnesota resident and film maker Zachary LeBeau — and two people who were charged in February, Wendy Runge and Matthias Saunders.
The new charges allege one count of ongoing criminal conduct and 11 felony counts of first-degree fraudulent practices by the three in connection with some $90-million in production costs for several different movie projects. LeBeau turned himself in to Polk County authorities and was released on bond.
Runge and Saunders are already free on bond from the previous charges. The former Film Officer director, Tom Wheeler, was fired after the problems surfaced and was later charged with misconduct in office. The film tax credits have been suspended.
See the complete list of the charges here: Film Office charges PDF