An Ohio trucking company owner was sentenced to prison for a scheme to defraud shippers, officials say.
On September 11, 2024, Gurtej Singh, also known as Gary Bhullar, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and 100 hours of community service, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG).
Singh pleaded guilty in February 2024 to wire fraud charges.
Officials say that between April 2018 until May 2022, Singh schemed to illegally consolidate loads to save on delivery costs and failed to deliver several loads to their final destinations.
Authorities say that Singh and affiliated companies charged a premium rate to provide truckload services for customers like Bath and Body Works and Amazon, but that they then “opened trailers and consolidated cargo to generate higher profits. They altered the seal serial numbers and paperwork, among other tactics to hide the scheme from shippers and receivers.”
From the U.S. Attorney’s Office:
“For example, in December 2018, Cargo Solutions Express picked up a load in Santa Clarita, California, to be delivered to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, containing products for Bath and Body Works. The load was delivered with an intact seal, indicating that the load had not been opened in transit, but 10 pallets of products worth nearly $230,000 were missing.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Cargo Solutions Express warehouse in Columbus, they discovered the 10 missing pallets of Bath and Body Works lotions, along with several other pallets of goods reported stolen from multiple shipments bound for an Amazon warehouse in Groveport, Ohio.“
Singh worked as a warehouse manager for Columbus-based Cargo Solutions Express from 2018 through 2019, then ran his own trucking company, Bhullar Transport Group LLC, from January 2020 through May 2022.
In a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) application, Singh claimed that Bhullar Transport Group was not affiliated with certain other FMCSA-regulated companies, when in fact Singh was affiliated with Cargo Solutions Express and Roadhawk Transportation and Show Time Carrier.
The investigation was conducted by DOT-OIG and the Columbus, Ohio Police Department.