I broke some news this afternoon in Minnesota, being the first in the media to report (by eight (8) minutes) the federal indictment on 5 wire and bank fraud charges of Jonathan Weinhagen, age 42.
The Feds accuse Weinhagen of embezzling more than $200,000 from his former employer, the prominent Minneapolis-area Chamber of Commerce. He had served as the Chamber’s CEO for eight years, and was paid around $280,000 per year for his services.
In Minnesota, the details of such capers are always farcical and tend toward the Fargo-esque.
In this instance, Weinhagen is accused of taking for himself a $30,000 grant meant for a Crime Stoppers nonprofit. There was also a personal Hawaiian family vacation that Weinhagen is said to have charged back to the Chamber. Garden-variety stuff for Minnesota, another nonprofit executive accused of wrongdoing.
No, what intrigued me most about the story is the fact that Weinhagen currently serves on the board of a local suburban school district. In fact, he’s been on the board for a decade, and served for a time as its chair.
In his 2023 re-election campaign, Weinhagen earned the endorsement of the local branch of the teachers union.
He’s been a frequent donor to the re-election efforts of Gov. Tim Walz over the years, giving a total of $6,000. Of his total political donations in the past decade (around $10,000) all but $500 went to Democrats.
Notwithstanding 5 felony counts lodged against him, he still appears to be school board material to the good burghers of Mounds View.
I’m guessing that the union and local Democrats will still back him in 2027, assuming he’s not in federal prison by then, or perhaps he could dial in to meetings via Zoom.
The media outlets following in my wake this afternoon and evening reported as follows, in order of appearance,
- MPR News: Feds: Ex-Minneapolis Chamber CEO stole Crimestoppers reward cash amid embezzlement scheme
- KARE-11: Former Minneapolis Chamber CEO indicted for embezzling hundreds of thousands
- Alpha News: Former CEO of Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce charged with five federal crimes
- KSTP-5: Indictment: Former Minneapolis Chamber CEO stole reward money for cases of 3 kids who were shot
- Star Tribune: Charges: Ex-CEO of Minneapolis Regional Chamber embezzled more than $200,000
Weinhagen’s next court appearance has yet to be scheduled. He is free on bond.
