U.S.: Private-jet pilot took $2.7M from Phila. firm, with credit cards

UPDATE: Berwind says it reported indicted pilot to the Feds. Kevin N. Boardman, who spent 16 years as Director of Aviation and Chief Pilot for family-owned Berwind Corp., the Philadelphia-based conglomerate that owns Elmer's Glue, BromiCide water treatments and other global brands, used corporate credit cards and phony "front" companies to "defraud" his employers of $2.7 million, starting in 2006, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

"He's presumed innocent. We're in the process of reviewing the paperwork," Boardman's attorney, William J. Brennan, told me. The indictment, handed down at the request of Philadelphia federal prosecutor Zane David Memenger, alleges Boardman submitted "false and inflated invoices" to Berwind for two companies that "never provided" actual services to the company.

Boardman, of Centerville, Del., left Berwind earlier this year, and has been available for work as a contract pilot for Gulfstream 550 and 650 jets, according to a professional notice he posted on a social media account. Those jets, even used models, sell for more than $50 million apiece, according to Gulfstream.

Berwind operates a Gulfstream 650, according to industry sources, and previously owned models 550 and 450. The company has leased its aircraft to associated businesses for a few thousand dollars an hour, according to a person familiar with the arrangements.

UPDATE: Berwind says it reported Boardman to the Feds: "Following the termination of Kevin Boardman, a Berwind Aviation employee, Berwind identified a series of irregular transactions specific to that division and then immediately conducted an internal investigation. As a result of our conclusions, we turned the matter over to the appropriate authorities, including the US Attorney's Office," Bruce McKenney, Berwind senior vice president, said in a statement. "The company has fully cooperated with the authorities and is pleased that the legal process will bring closure to this matter." Berwind didn't answer my queries as to why Boardman was fired or what the company needs jets for.

EARLIER:Coal-mining heir Charles Graham Berwind Jr. built Berwind Corp. into a range of energy, drug-service and manufacturing companies before he died in 2010. The firm also formerly owned real estate and financial groups. Its current businesses employ 4,000 worldwide. Berwind's children who remain active with the firm have kept a low public profile. A separate branch of the Berwind family runs Berwind Private Equity, a buyout firm based in Harvard, Mass.