DOJ

Florida trucking company owner convicted in $112M Ponzi scheme

The owner of a Florida trucking and logistics company has been convicted for his role in an elaborate three-year truck investment Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $112 million.

Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida convicted Sanjay Singh, 45, of Coral Springs, on Nov. 8 of eight counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges.

On Nov. 13, U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz denied Singh’s motion to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/florida-trucking-company-owner-convicted-in-112m-ponzi-scheme

Austal USA pleads guilty to accounting fraud and obstruction of DoD audit

The U.S. Department of Justice reports that Austal USA LLC, a subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) yesterday entered a guilty plea and agreed to pay $24 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department related to an accounting fraud scheme and efforts to obstruct the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) during a financial capability audit.

The Justice Department’s criminal resolution was coordinated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)....

https://www.marinelog.com/shipbuilding/shipyards/shipyard-news/austal-usa-pleads-guilty-to-accounting-fraud-and-obstruction-of-dod-audit/

How freight fraud became the perfect crime

Freight fraud has become an all-too-familiar term in the transportation and logistics sectors in recent years. Although fraud has long been a challenge in the field, industry experts observe that these criminals have evolved alongside FreightTech, leaving supply chain participants uncertain about who will bear the burden of finding solutions.

Recently, FreightWaves has received numerous reports of sophisticated freight fraud schemes. 

There is the classic double-brokering scheme, in which a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-freight-fraud-became-the-perfect-crime

SEC charges 2 executives in $112M trucking Ponzi scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two more Florida executives with participating in a truck investment venture that allegedly bilked investors out of $112 million. 

Ricardi Celicourt, 40, of Coconut Creek, and Brisly Guillaume, 39, of Boynton Beach, were named in a lawsuit filed by the SEC on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuit charges both with violations of securities registration and broker-dealer registration provisions.

T...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sec-charges-2-executives-in-112m-trucking-ponzi-scheme

Chief engineer gets prison term for oil record book, conspiracy and obstruction offenses

In a case that tells on all too familiar tale of oily bilge dumping, oil record book falsification, and a failed attempted at cover up, Denys Korotkiy, chief engineer of the vessel Donald was sentenced on Sept. 15 to serve twelve months and a day in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and failure to maintain an accurate oil record book.

Korotkiy was convicted on those charges June 9, following a five-day jury trial.

The DOJ says evidence showed that oily bilge water...

https://www.marinelog.com/legal/compliance/chief-engineer-gets-prison-term-for-oil-record-book-conspiracy-and-obstruction-offenses/

Feds charge former Slync CEO in $67 million fraud scheme

Former Slync CEO Chris Kirchner was charged with fraud Tuesday after the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal complaints alleging he lied to investors and misappropriated over $28 million from the FreightTech company he helped launch in 2017 to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Kirchner, 35, of Westlake, Texas, was arrested at his home early Tuesday after FBI agents raided the home. He made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray Jr....

Louisiana trucker gets 70 months for drug trafficking

A Louisiana owner-operator was recently sentenced to nearly six years in prison for drug trafficking.

Rusty Ross Honore, 42, of New Iberia, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in July to a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. Juneau has ordered Honore to serve three years of supervised release once he finishes his prison sentence and pay a fine of $10,000.

In March...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/louisiana-trucker-gets-70-months-for-drug-trafficking

Trucking, logistics firms rocked by embattled bottled water producer’s bankruptcy filing

Nevada bottled water producer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Several trucking and logistics firms are collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after a Nevada-based bottled water company — currently under federal investigation over allegations that its water resulted in a nationwide hepatitis outbreak — went out of business.

AffinityLifestyles.com and its affiliates, Real Water Inc. and Real Water of Tennessee, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Aug. 20. The move comes two months after a federal court ordered the companies to stop producing or...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-logistics-firms-rocked-by-embattled-bottled-water-producers-bankruptcy-filing

Owners of Westfield Transport indicted for falsifying driving logs

Owners of Westfield Transport indicted on allegations the carrier falsified logs

The owners of defunct Westfield Transport Inc. of West Springfield, Massachusetts, who hired a driver accused of killing five motorcyclists and two passengers and injured seven others, in New Hampshire in June 2019, were indicted on federal charges of falsifying driving logs, on Friday.

Dunyadar (Damien) Gasanov, 36,  was indicted on one count of falsification of records, one count of conspiracy to falsify and one count of making a false statement to a federal investigator. He is still wanted by

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/owners-of-westfield-transport-indicted-for-falsifying-driving-logs

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