Trucking company vows to stop practicing “so much nepotism” after managing siblings used network of family to steal $2M

A trucking company says it will stop the practice of nepotism within its hiring strategy after two siblings hired to manage the company scammed the business out of $2 million.

Shana Macleod and Andrew Macleod, siblings hired to run a trucking company through nepotism, are accused of scamming Hoffmeier Trucking in Tulsa, Oklahoma between 2020 and 2023. Shana was sentenced to one year in jail and seven years on probation this week, along with an order to pay restitution. Andrew will be sentenced later this year. 

According to NewsOn6, the two were hired to run Hoffmeier Trucking after the business was purchased by Reactor Resources. The siblings were hired based on their parents’ longstanding employment with the company.  

“We thought this would be a great family affair,” said Nicole Foreman with Reactor Resources, Hoffmeier’s parent company. “Her parents had worked for the company for so long. It’s such a small company, and we all treat each other like family. We thought it would be a good fit.”

Foreman says that not long after the two took over, Reactor Resources started noticing discrepancies in the trucking company’s financial records. After a bit of investigating, it was determined that the brother and sister were defrauding the company of funds through a series of schemes. These schemes included fake invoices for services that were never performed, such as tank cleanings or trailer inspections, and often involved other family members or friends. 

 The schemes are estimated to have cost the company around $2 million in losses. The Macleods were fired and the police were contacted soon after the discovery.

“I’ve always loved putting together puzzles,” Foreman said. “Sometimes I would take it like a puzzle, but there were times where I would just sit back and feel sad, finding a new scheme or a new participant.”

“It’s kind of life-changing and eye-opening to see people you put in that position do what they did, to the extent they did,” Jim Robinson of Reactor Resources said. “It’s very egregious behavior.”

“We probably could have caught it earlier if there wasn’t so much nepotism. That’s something we’re aware of, and we’re going to correct,” Foreman added. 

The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement in regards to the sentencing: 

“From 2020 to 2023, Shana MacLeod was Director of Operations for Hoffmeier Trucking. During that time Ms. MacLeod and her brother Andrew, also a manager at Hoffmeier, brazenly violated that trust with multiple ongoing schemes to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company.

Her sentence of paying restitution as well as serving prison time and a subsequent suspended sentence represents justice for Hoffmeier’s owners and other employees. Andrew Macleod will receive the same sentence later this year.”