On December 2, 2009, Brandes pleaded guilty to bank fraud. She admitted that, between March 30, 2002, and December 27, 2005, she wrote false and fraudulent checks to herself on the business account of Dr. J. Daniel Fleming’s dental practice in Kansas City, Missouri where she was employed. Brandes also admitted that she used a stamp with his signature, without his knowledge or authorization, for the signature on the checks. Brandes then deposited these checks into her personal bank account.Brandes concealed her fraud by destroying the returned checks that were delivered with the monthly bank statement and by falsifying or deleting entries in the business accounting software program. 

Some of the proceeds that Brandes stole from her employer were used to purchase and construct the airplane from a kit. The total amount of the loss was $77,552. Under the terms of Brandes’ plea agreement, if Fleming sells the plane for more than the amount of loss, Brandes is not entitled to recompense for any difference between the loss amount she had admitted and the market value that he receives.