Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024:
A Columbus, Ohio-based interstate trucking company owner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud.
According to U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker, Gurtej Singh, 48, illegally overbilled shippers, consolidated shipments, and caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of goods shipped to destinations in Ohio like Bath and Body Works and Amazon warehouses.
Singh admitted to covertly opening sealed truck trailers and removing goods. Singh and others illegally consolidated loads to save on delivery costs and failed to deliver many goods to their final destinations.
According to court documents, from April 2018 until December 2019, Singh was employed by Cargo Solutions Express as the manager of its warehouse on Fisher Road in Columbus. Singh later created his own transport company, owning and managing Bhullar Transport Group LLC from January 2020 until May 2022. Singh maintained a warehouse for his company on Interchange Road in Columbus.
In January 2019, Singh filed an application with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on behalf of Bhullar and lied by stating that he did not have certain relationships with other FMCSA-regulated entities. In reality, Singh was affiliated with Cargo Solutions Express and two other trucking companies, Roadhawk Transportation and Show Time Carrier.
The trucking companies provided interstate transportation for manufacturers and retailers. The shippers often paid a premium to reserve the entire truck for cargo that they did not want mixed with others’ cargo. To ensure that loads were not tampered with in transit, the shippers often added serialized plastic seals to the trailer locking mechanism and noted the serial number on the shipping documents. Receivers of the goods could then compare a trailer seal to the paperwork to ensure that the trailer had not been opened.
