Trucking news and briefs for Monday, June 5, 2023:
Two women were arrested Friday, May 26, on a four-count indictment related to their alleged scheme to defraud and embezzle money from their employer, a Texas-based trucking company headquartered in Eagle Pass.
According to court documents, Dina Maldonado Morales, 42, and Laura Ballesteros Haby, 52, allegedly used their positions with MH Group to divert the company’s customer account receivable payments to their own bank accounts. The total amount of the embezzled, diverted and stolen funds between July 2017 and April 2019 is alleged to have been approximately $1.4 million.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER database, MH Group is a small fleet with 20 trucks and 15 drivers.
Both Morales and Haby were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting wire fraud. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count and 20 years in prison on the three wire fraud and aiding and abetting counts.
Penske Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 12) is ramping up its freight brokerage capabilities this year with the opening of new offices in Chicago and Edison, New Jersey.
The Chicago location, on 500 W. Madison St., is 9,000-square-feet in size. There are expected to be 80 associates housed there in the location’s first year. These associates will have sales, account management, operations and customer success responsibilities.
