Former Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) Employee and His Father-in-Law-Indicted for Stealing from BNSF

January 20, 2010 - Matthew Wyrick 35, of Olathe, Kansas, and his father-in-law, Robert Steele, 64, of Gardner, Kansas, have been charged in a federal indictment, returned in Fort Worth last week, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Steele surrendered to federal authorities in Kansas City, Kansas last Friday. After an initial appearance there, he was ordered to appear before Magistrate Judge Charles Bleil in Fort Worth on Friday, January 29, 2010.

According to the one-count indictment, Wyrick was an employee of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and was authorized to approve certain invoices for payment to BNSF contractors. Between March 2005 and August 2007, Wyrick and Steele, who operated “S&S Erectors,” conspired together to defraud BNSF.

As part of the scheme, Wyrick recruited BNSF vendors, including S&S Erectors, to submit fraudulent invoices to BNSF. Wyrick would approve the invoices, causing BNSF to pay the vendors. After the vendors received payment from BNSF for the fraudulent invoices, they would pay Wyrick a portion of the proceeds.

In March 2005, Wyrick recruited Steel to become a contractor for BNSF. Wyrick then prepared a “Vendor Master and Accounts Payable” request for S&S Erectors, which failed to disclose that Steele was his father-in-law. In September 2005, Steele executed a contract to provide services to BNSF. Over the course of the scheme, Wyrick and Steele caused S&S Erectors to bill BNSF over $1.8 million. Steel paid Wyrick more than $600,000 of the proceeds from S&S Erectors’ contract with BNSF

Between April 5, 2006, and June 11, 2007, for example, Wyrick and Steele caused S&S Erectors to submit 21 invoices totaling $328,948 to BNSF for hazardous waste disposal associated with a BNSF project. Those invoices were fraudulent because the waste disposal was not “hazardous” and, in fact, was disposed of by S&S Erectors for less than $10,000.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Klinck is in charge of the prosecution.