A plea deal appears to be in the works in the case of a Cedar Falls man accused of stealing millions from customers at the futures company he founded.
The former C.E.O. of the Peregrine Financial Group has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors where he admits to carrying out the $200-million fraud and embezzlement scheme that put his company into bankruptcy.
Russell Wasendorf, Senior will plead guilty to mail fraud, embezzling customer funds, and two counts of making false statements to regulators. Magistrate Judge Jon Scoles has not made a decision about the deal yet, but is expected to issue a ruling later in the week.
Details of the agreement were released during a detention hearing in federal court in Cedar Rapids yesterday. Under the terms of the agreement, Wasendorf could be sentenced up to 50 years in prison.
He had originally been charged with 31 counts of using false documents in an effort to mislead regulators.
By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls