Sept. 25: Petters HQ workers back on job

Marlin Levison, Star Tribune

FBI agents hauled boxes of unknown items from the Petters Group building in Minnetonka to government vehicles in the parking lot.

By LIZ FEDOR, DAVE PHELPS, PAUL WALSH and JENNA ROSS, Star Tribune

Last update: September 25, 2008 - 11:16 AM

Operations at Petters Group Worldwide are returning to normal this morning, one day after federal agents swarmed the Minnetonka headquarters and carted away materials from the offices.

Tom Petters, chairman and CEO of Petters Group Worldwide, asked employees this morning to move forward with their work and remain positive.

Company spokeswoman Andrea Miller told the Associated Press that Petters met with employees at the Minnetonka headquarters and apologized to employees for the interruption and told them that the company has the same values it did before the raid.

Miller said the company is not anticipating any further law enforcement presence at the headquarters today, "but we are ready to fully cooperate, if necessary."

Agents Wednesday also searched the company founder Petters' Wayzata home.

Petters is the majority owner of Sun Country Airlines and has holdings in Polaroid and numerous other businesses. The 51-year-old chief executive was away during the searches, and he declined to comment about the matter.

FBI spokesman Paul McCabe didn't specify the nature of the investigation, but he indicated that the comprehensive search involved the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office, the IRS criminal investigative division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

By late afternoon, nearly 50 law-enforcement vehicles crammed the Petters headquarters parking lot. Agents began hauling boxes and other objects out the back entrance about 5 p.m., loading them into two sport-utility vehicles and the back of a pickup.

Agents completed the search late Wednesday and returned control of the building to Petters officials.

The search warrant materials remain under seal in U.S. District Court.

A company spokeswoman said the investigation does not involve Sun Country, Polaroid, uBid, Fingerhut or Great Waters Media, the magazine group Petters recently acquired.

"The investigation pertains to one financial entity that Petters is involved with," Miller said Wednesday.

Prominent white-collar criminal defense attorneys Andy Luger of Greene Espel in Minneapolis and John Lundquist of Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis were seen at the Petters building during the morning raid.

"No charges have been filed. No one has been arrested," said Lundquist, who is representing Petters Co. Inc. and related entities. "Petters Co. is cooperating."

Lundquist confirmed that the focus of the investigation is Petters Co. Inc. He said the Petters Co. has "a number of operations," but he declined to describe them.

Neither Sun Country nor Polaroid, another major holding of Petters Group, was searched Wednesday.

"It is business as usual at Sun Country, and we do not anticipate any impact from these events," Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek said.

After federal agents swarmed the Petters headquarters Wednesday morning, the company's employees were sent home.

An FBI agent answered the front door Wednesday afternoon at Petters' Wayzata home on Bushaway Road. "This is a search warrant situation," he told a reporter, referring questions to McCabe.

Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709 • lfedor@startribune.com

Dave Phelps • 612-673-7269 dphelps@startribune.com

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168 jross@startribune.com

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482 pwalsh@startribune.com

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