Tom Petters, the Chairman and CEO of Petters Group Worldwide, is now at the center of a federal investigation into a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme.
On Friday afternoon search warrants and an affidavit detailing the fraud were unsealed in federal court.
The investigation, which reached its climax as federal agents raided Petters Group Worldwide headquarters in Minnetonka on Wednesday, focuses on the equity company Petters Company Inc (PCI).
The documents allege the scheme started in the mid-1990s as PCI enticed would-be shareholders with investments backed by retail products. The fictitious purchase and sale of retail goods is estimated to be over $2 billion, according to the secret recordings of a PCI associate.
Petters Group Worldwide has holdings in Sun Country Airlines, Polaroid and Fingerhut, among many others. None of these holdings were cited in the search warrants