Agents Search Offices Of Petters Group Worldwide

Employees arriving Wednesday to their jobs at private investment and holdings firm Petters Group Worldwide were greeted to a rude surprise: federal agents armed with subpoenas to search the company's offices in Minnetonka, MN.

One of the entities under criminal investigation is Petters Company Inc, which counts among its assets Polaroid... and Sun Country Airlines. So far, officials at Petters are keeping tight-lipped as to why their company is under the microscope, though we do know the FBI, the US Attorney's Office, the IRS criminal investigative division, and the US Postal Inspection Service were all part of the investigation.

"Petters Group Worldwide is cooperating fully with the investigation. The company will make additional information available as it is known," a Petters statement read Wednesday.

As employees returned to their jobs Thursday, Sun Country took obvious pains to reassure its customers... and, to distance itself from the apparent woes of its parent.

"We are owned by Petters Aviation which is a separate non-affected company," said Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek. "It is business as usual at Sun Country and we do not anticipate any impact from these events. We continue to focus on improving our business in a challenging environment of high fuel prices and extending our recent profitable performance."

Gadek added the airline will continue to fly its regular scheduled and charter flights, as normal. "Our commitment to Minnesota has not changed," he said.

FMI: www.suncountry.com, www.pettersgroup.com