Mr. Wasendorf, 64, made his first court appearance late Friday in Federal District Court in Cedar Rapids after F.B.I. agents arrested him at an Iowa City hospital. He entered no plea and is being detained pending another court hearing next week. A prosecutor said that Mr. Wasendorf could face additional charges. In his note, Mr. Wasendorf laid out how for nearly 20 years he had forged false account statements from U.S. Bank to embezzle millions of dollars from his customers at Peregrine, which also did business as PFGBest. Though it had nearly 150 employees, Mr. Wasendorf said that he alone committed the crime. “With careful concealment and blunt authority, I was able to hide my fraud from others at P.F.G.,” he said.
