Former Chief Financial Officer of Publicly Traded Company Convicted of Securities and Accounting Fraud | OPA

A federal jury in the Eastern District of Wisconsin on Thursday convicted the former chief financial officer of Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. (Roadrunner), a publicly traded trucking and logistics company formerly headquartered in Cudahy, Wisconsin, on four counts of violating federal securities laws for his role in a complex securities and accounting fraud scheme.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Peter R. Armbruster, 62, of Milwaukee, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Roadrunner, whose shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange using the ticker symbol #RRTS, committed securities fraud, falsified Roadrunner’s books and records, and misled Roadrunner’s auditors. Armbruster was convicted in relation to a sophisticated accounting fraud scheme that resulted in Roadrunner’s financial statements and Securities and Exchange Commission filings for the third quarter of 2016 being materially false and fraudulent.

Armbruster was convicted of one count of securities fraud, one count of misleading Roadrunner’s auditors, and two counts of falsifying Roadrunner’s books and records. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29 before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment for securities fraud, 20 years imprisonment for misleading auditors, and 20 years’ imprisonment for each books and records violation. Judge Kennelly will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Hughes of the FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Andrea Kropf of the Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General’s Chicago Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office and the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the case. 

Trial Attorneys Emily Scruggs and Kyle Hankey and Acting Principal Assistant Chief Justin Weitz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin R. Cottingham, formerly of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, provided valuable assistance.

The Fraud Section is the nation’s leading prosecuting authority for complex white-collar criminal cases, including accounting and securities fraud cases involving public companies.