The Justice Department announced a plea agreement with John R. Olsen, a Canadian citizen and former general manager of Chemical Products Technologies, LLC (CPT), agreed to plead guilty to filing false federal income tax returns and conspiring to defraud CPT. The four-count criminal information charges Olsen with filing two false income tax returns and participating in two conspiracies to commit mail fraud and “deprive CPT of its intangible right to the honest services of its employees.”
While employed as the general manager of CPT, Olsen received kickback payments from the owner and operator of an independent trucking company, through a sham company owned by a co-conspirator, in exchange for ensuring that the trucking company received CPT’s business. In addition to the kickback payments, Olsen diverted profits from CPT's glyphosate business and used the money for his own personal benefit. Glyphosate is a herbicide used to control grasses and weeds.
The conspiracy charge, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000 for an individual for each count. The tax charge, a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), carries a maximum penalty per count of three years' imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. The maximum fine for each count may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
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