Coopersville Man Sentenced To Prison In Scheme To Defraud Herman Miller Inc. of $1.77 Million

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today that Kevin John Grimm, 61, was sentenced to serve 27 months in federal prison for his role in defrauding furniture manufacturer Herman Miller Inc. in a vendor invoicing scheme. The Honorable Paul L. Maloney, U.S. District Judge, imposed the sentence. In addition to the prison term, Grimm was ordered to serve two years of supervised release, pay $458,947.14 in restitution, and forfeit an additional $458,947.14 to the government.

          Grimm pled guilty on March 21, 2017, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. He admitted conspiring with Spring Lake resident Jerry Akers to devise and execute a scheme to defraud Herman Miller between June 2010 and July 2015 using Grimm’s company, KJ Gas Transportation, LLC. With Akers’s assistance as an employee at the company, Grimm submitted false and fraudulent invoices for payment for natural gas services he never provided. The fraud scheme generated $1,772,726 in payments to his company. Prior to Grimm’s sentencing, Akers and Grimm collectively returned $1,313,779 of the illegal proceeds they obtained during the fraud, with Grimm paying $1,223,779 of that amount.

          This matter was investigated by the Grand Rapids office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher O’Connor.

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