Missouri man pleads guilty to American Airlines scam

Missouri man William Schwarze pleaded guilty yesterday to an American Airlines scam that resulted in a loss to the company of $160,000.

Schwarze, 27, of Ladue, admitted to exploiting a glitch in American’s computer systems. He would purchase gift cards with his personal credit cards and then use those gift cards to buy airline tickets. Either before or after a flight, Schwarze would apply for a refund and then get that money refunded to his credit card, according to his guilty plea.

Schwarze also scammed friends and family out of $20,000 by purporting to be a travel agent. He accepted funds for airline tickets without telling them he was getting the purchase price refunded, according to court documents.

American since has fixed the glitch in its system.

Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.