Omaha man sentenced to prison, must surrender lavish home, car obtained through $5M fraud scheme

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — An Omaha man was sentenced Thursday to 78 months in prison and was ordered to surrender property including a $1 million Arizona home and a McLaren sports car for his role in a $5 million fraud scheme.

Jeffrey Stenstrom, 42, and a now deceased associate, Brett Cook of Fremont, stole more than $5 million from clients of Darland Properties, an Omaha property management company, to fund lavish lifestyles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Eugene Kowel, the special agent in charge of the Omaha FBI office, called it “a clear-cut case of greed.”

Stenstrom owned and operated commercial remodeling and repair businesses, and Brett Cook, the vice president of Darland Properties, directed jobs to Stenstrom’s firms, which, in turn, hired subcontractors to do the work.

But Stenstrom billed for work that was not done, overbilled other jobs and submitted inflated invoices to obtain insurance proceeds to which Darland was not entitled.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in a press release, said the fraud allowed Stenstrom to purchase expensive cars and homes, including a home in Queen Creek, Arizona, valued at $1 million, a Ferrari 488 Coupe valued at $200,000 to $300,000, a boat, a Jeep and a lake home in Fremont valued at $450,000.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Buescher sentenced Stenstrom to 30 months in prison for income tax evasion and 78 months for conspiracy to commit money laundering, terms to be served concurrently.

Stenstrom was also ordered to pay $5.1 million to victims who were clients of Darland Properties and $1.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service.

Cook died by suicide in May 2022, shortly after the FBI searched his home.

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