Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Oct. 19, 2026:
Trucking company owner guilty in $2M theft, ID fraud scheme
Hasan Korkmaz, the owner and operator of Santee, California-based San Diego Logistics Group Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court on Oct. 15 to all 18 counts of an indictment charging him with bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The company is listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motus database as having an inactive USDOT number.
According to his plea agreement, in 2022 and 2023, Korkmaz executed a credit card “bust-out” scheme, where fraudsters establish seemingly legitimate credit card accounts in other people’s names and then “bust out” by maxing out the credit line with no intention of paying the balance.
Korkmaz admitted that he obtained names, dates of birth, social security numbers and other personally identifiable information corresponding with real individuals, then applied for numerous credit card accounts with that information. After opening the fraudulent credit card accounts, he used the credit cards to incur charges at various businesses, including his own San Diego Logistics Group. The charges were in the thousands of dollars each, including some charges as high as $18,500 in a single transaction.
To perpetuate the scheme, Korkmaz admitted that he also made fraudulent payments, with checks drawn on accounts with insufficient funds or drawn on non-existent accounts, to the credit card accounts, in order to temporarily restoring the available credit limits. He would then incur additional charges on the credit card accounts at or near the maximum credit limits for the accounts. In total, Korkmaz caused over $2,103,000 in losses to two banks.
Korkmaz also laundered the bank fraud proceeds, including by transferring proceeds from the fraud scheme internationally to a bank account in Türkiye controlled by Korkmaz.
After pulling off the scheme and laundering the money, Korkmaz absconded. There, in Türkiye, he spent the next 18 months before ultimately returning to the United States, where he was arrested in June of 2025.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2027. For the 12 counts of bank fraud, Korkmaz faces up 30 years in prison and a maximum $1 million fine. For two counts of money laundering, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the amount of monetary instruments involved in the offense, whichever is greatest. Finally, for the four counts of aggravated identity theft, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, to run consecutively to the specified felony.
[Related: California fleet owner charged in $2 million credit card scheme]
Trump issues more pardons for diesel ‘deleters’
President Donald Trump this week during a midterm rally in Alaska announced the pardons of two co-owners of an Anchorage diesel shop who previously pleaded guilty to Clean Air Act violations for “tuning and deleting” diesel trucks.
According to a Fox News report, Trump brought Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming on stage at the rally to sign clemency documents.
A November 2022 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska detailed the charges against Czubak and Fleming, as well as a third co-owner Michael Hanzuk II, who owned Arm Rippin Toys. According to court documents, the trio “tampered with federally mandated monitoring devices on private and commercial diesel vehicles and removed required air pollution control equipment on at least 37 vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020.”
Their process included removing emissions control systems and modifying the on-board diagnostics systems to get around faults related to the missing emissions components.
At the time, Czubak, 25, Fleming, 29, and Hanzuk, 30, each pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Clean Air Act and were each sentenced to five years’ probation, a $66,000 fine and 180 hours of community service as a condition of probation.
Trump previously pardoned Hanzuk on Sept. 3. With Czubak and Fleming on stage at the rally this week, Trump told supporters he was “giving each one of the three an unconditional pardon.” He also defended their actions, Fox News reported, saying they helped keep the trucks running in Alaska’s extreme weather conditions.
ATRI names new leader
The American Transportation Research Institute has a new leader, with ATRI’s Board of Directors naming transportation and logistics executive Page Siplon as its next president and CEO.
Page Siplon
“I have known Page since his tenure with the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, and I am excited to have him join the ATRI team and work with me and our staff on the leadership transition,” Brewster said. “Page’s leadership will be vital to carrying ATRI’s research mission forward at a time when trucking faces increasingly complex decisions. In the years ahead, credible independent research will be essential to helping our industry navigate change, improve safety and make informed decisions.”
Siplon brings more than two decades of leadership experience spanning private industry, economic development, public policy, and military service. Most recently, he served as CEO of TeamOne Logistics, where he led the organization for more than a decade, guiding its growth and expanding its capabilities.
“I'm incredibly excited and humbled by the opportunity to lead ATRI and build on the remarkable work Rebecca and her team have done over the years,” said Siplon. “I've always believed that trucking is the common denominator of our economy. Our nation simply cannot function without it. ATRI has earned a level of respect and trust throughout our industry that is truly special, and looking ahead, I see tremendous opportunity to build on that foundation, broaden our reach, and find new ways to put our research to work for the trucking industry and the economy that relies on it.”
