Minn. film company owner pleads guilty to theft

One of the owners of a Minneapolis-based film company that has been the subject of an investigation into improperly spent Iowa tax credits pleaded guilty on Friday and agreed to cooperate with the ongoing probe.

Chase Brandau, 25, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft, which is punishable by five years in prison.

Brandau and three other people own Polynation Pictures, which produced the film "The Scientist." The company received tax credit from the Iowa Film Office as part of a program designed to lure filmmakers to Iowa.

The program was suspended in September 2009 after an investigation discovered mismanagement and fraud. The state auditor's office found more than $25 million in tax credits that were improperly issued.

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Then Gov. Chet Culver later allowed existing tax credit applications to be processed but halted any new applications from being filed.

Charges against Zachary LeBeau, another one of the other owners of Polynation pictures , were dismissed in exchange for his cooperation in the case. Another owner, Matthias Saunders, pleaded guilty to theft in November.

The trial for the remaining owner, Wendy Weiner Runge, is set for Feb. 7 in Polk County. She is charged with first-degree theft, three counts of fraudulent practice in the first degree and one count of ongoing criminal conduct.

Earlier this week, the attorney general's office announced it had filed felony charges against former film office manage Thomas Wheeler, of Indianola; Iowa filmmaker Bruce Heppner-Elgin, of Washington, Iowa, who runs Iowa Film Production Services; tax credit broker Chad Witter, of Bettendorf; and Dennis Brouse, of Plattsmouth, Neb., who runs a production company called Changing Horses Productions.

Wheeler was charged with three counts of felonious misconduct in office, three counts of first-degree fraudulent practices and one count of conspiracy. If convicted, he faces up to 50 years in prison.

"Charging him with a 50-year prison sentence is not appropriate," his attorney, Angela Campbell said.

An earlier misdemeanor charge against Wheeler will be dropped, the attorney general's office said.

Telephone messages left Friday for attorneys for Heppner-Elgin, Witter and Brouse were not immediately returned.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)