Cedar Rapids freight broker sentenced to over 2 years for bank fraud

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cedar Rapids transportation broker was sentenced to over two years in federal prison Thursday for bilking a bank out of more than $870,000. 

David Giannetto, 63, owner of Professional Freight Sales Inc. in Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty in May to defrauding Farmers State Bank by selling fake invoices for at least $550,000 with the intent to receive money for shipping jobs he didn't broker.

U.S. District Senior Judge Linda Reade sentenced Giannetto to 27 months in prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. Giannetto was also ordered to pay $872,065 in restitution to the bank.

Giannetto, who was on pretrial release, will report to the U.S. Marshals Service on Dec. 31 and be transported to a designated prison to begin his sentence.

Court documents show Giannetto, as a broker, would match companies needing to ship goods with trucking companies for transport. The shipping companies would pay Giannetto an agreed amount for arranging the shipping and Giannetto would pay the trucking companies an agreed fee.

From January 2008 to January 2010, Farmers State Bank had a 'business manager agreement” with Giannetto in which it fronted credit to him when he sold invoices from the shipping companies to the bank, according to court documents.

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