Former Aldi exec, general contractor indicted for fraud

A former executive of the Aldi grocery chain and the owner of a St. Louis-area general contractor have been indicted on federal fraud charges.

Louis Ross, former regional director of real estate for Aldi, and Donald Schniers, owner of C. Juengel Co., are accused of conspiring to make a bidding process for Aldi stores appear to be competitive. The charges are related to the construction of stores in Missouri and southern Illinois.

Ross and Schniers allegedly submitted fictitious bids under the names of other regional construction companies that were higher than bids by C. Juengel, thus leading the latter business to secure the projects, according to the indictment.

Read more from the St. Louis Business Journal.