A 60-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana, man has been charged with felony theft-by-swindle, accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly $450,000 from Eden Prairie-based C.H. Robinson.
The charge, filed on Nov. 17 in the Hennepin County Fourth Judicial District, carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a $100,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, Steven Craig Henry exploited a system error at C.H. Robinson, a distribution broker that locates carrier companies to transport items for manufacturers, to divert funds intended for Chattanooga, Tennessee-based F2F Transport, with which he was contracted, to his personal bank account between Dec. 18, 2022, and May 9, 2023.
C.H. Robinson employees reported a fraud incident to the Eden Prairie police on Feb. 14, 2023. In December 2022, a system error resulted in F2F Transport’s disconnection from C.H. Robinson’s portal, preventing drivers from accessing load assignments and necessitating F2F’s re-registration.
On Dec. 18, 2022, F2F Transport completed its re-registration in the C.H. Robinson system. IP address data reveals that Henry was responsible for the registration. Henry included F2F Transport’s business information in certain sections and his personal data, such as his bank account details, in others. Henry reportedly also modified the payment schedule for F2F, setting it to daily payouts instead of the previous 20-day cycle.
C.H. Robinson discovered on Feb. 3, 2023, that payments intended for F2F Transport had been redirected to Henry’s personal account. F2F confirmed Henry was their employee but without the authority to make agreements with C.H. Robinson, and he had not transported any of their loads.
The complaint stated that Henry, an independent contractor with F2F Transport, was restricted to working only with F2F. Owning his truck, he self-managed his loads and reported directly to F2F, receiving weekly payments from them.
Between Dec. 18, 2022, and Feb. 3, 2023, C.H. Robinson made daily transfers to Henry’s account, totaling 34 electronic payments that appeared as “CH Robinson” deposits in his bank records. These payments, initially for F2F’s transported loads, cumulatively amounted to about $448,283.
On Feb. 8, 2023, F2F Transport and C.H. Robinson contacted Henry, who first denied but then acknowledged having about $168,000 in two accounts. Henry admitted to spending some funds and agreed to return the remaining money but failed to do so.
Henry told investigators he had never transported a load for C.H. Robinson and thought the money had been routed through F2F Transport.
“You put it in my account, I’m gonna spend it,” he stated.
Bank records show Henry received all 34 deposits into his personal bank account. Starting Dec. 22, 2022, Henry began transferring the funds among various accounts, a process he continued even after Feb. 8, 2023, when he pledged to return the money. The records show that Henry used the funds to purchase a vehicle and a business trailer, pay off a timeshare in Las Vegas, and cover home renovations, among other smaller purchases and loan repayments. These transactions continued until at least May 9, 2023. Henry used or transferred nearly $364,000.
The complaint against Henry was issued as a summons, meaning he was not taken into custody but will be given a date for his initial court appearance.
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