Published: June 24, 2009 11:03 am      

Jeffersonville travel executive accused of stealing nearly half million dollars

Man accused of keeping profits from ticket sales

Charges have been filed against a man accused of stealing $478,014 from a Jeffersonville-based travel agency.

Kenneth Schonberg, 42, was charged with class C felony theft in Clark County Circuit Court on Tuesday and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Schonberg is vice president of Champion Sports Tours, a subsidiary of The Travel Authority, which is headquartered in Jeffersonville. Schonberg is in charge of setting up travel and seating arrangements for sporting events, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Mull described the company as a “middle man” in distributing tickets. Court records indicate Champion Sports obtains tickets directly, and those tickets are provided to other companies to be sold to the general public. The money made from the sold tickets is returned to Schonberg, and he was supposed to turn the money over to the accounting department.

The investigation began in March when the chief executive officer of The Travel Authority told Indiana State Police detectives that he believed Schonberg was getting tickets and selling some of them personally, and not turning all of the tickets over to be sold for profit, the affidavit states.

“The allegations are that [Schonberg] took and sold some of the tickets on the side,” Mull said.

Many of the tickets were to Indianapolis Colts games, the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl. In one instance, Schonberg allegedly accepted money to buy tickets if the Colts advanced in the playoffs, but they were eliminated and the money was never returned.

According to court records, Schonberg’s co-workers said he has gambling debts and had asked to borrow thousands of dollars in the past. Mull said he believes Schonberg lives in the Clark County area, but he does not know where.

Schonberg faces two to eight years in prison if convicted.