A California trucking firm proprietor pleaded responsible to a $2.1 million fraud scheme involving practically 100 stolen identities. Hasan Korkmaz, 45, of Las Vegas, operated San Diego Logistics Group Inc. in Santee, California. Federal prosecutors detailed how he processed fraudulent bank card transactions by a number of companies, together with his trucking operation. Particular person expenses reached $18,500, finally inflicting greater than $2,103,000 in losses throughout two banks.
Korkmaz admitted to all 18 counts involving financial institution fraud, cash laundering and aggravated identification theft on October 15. The operation ran throughout 2022 and 2023, utilizing private data belonging to actual people. Prosecutors traced proceeds into monetary accounts he managed in Turkey. Korkmaz remained abroad for roughly 18 months earlier than returning to the US, the place authorities arrested him in June 2025.
How the bank card scheme labored
Korkmaz obtained names, beginning dates, Social Safety numbers and different figuring out data to open quite a few fraudulent bank card accounts. Prosecutors described the operation as a bank card “bust-out” scheme. The strategy entails establishing accounts beneath stolen identities and exhausting obtainable credit score with out desiring to repay the balances. He additionally submitted checks from nonexistent accounts or these missing adequate funds, quickly restoring credit score limits for added purchases.
San Diego Logistics Group was among the many companies that processed the fraudulent bank card expenses. Some particular person transactions reached $18,500. Prosecutors didn’t establish the providers related to these funds. Court docket filings cited within the DOJ announcement don’t set up whether or not the transactions concerned precise freight shipments.
Federal data reveal trucking firm’s working historical past
Federal Motor Service Security Administration data establish San Diego Logistics Group Inc. beneath USDOT 3210732 and MC 1002578. The corporate reported three vehicles, 5 CDL drivers and a pair of,948,000 miles traveled in 2022. Its registered cargo classes included normal freight, refrigerated meals, recent produce, meat and U.S. mail. The figures got here from the service’s November 2023 MCS-150 submitting.
Divided amongst three vehicles, the reported mileage equals roughly 983,000 miles per truck in a single yr. The American Transportation Analysis Institute reported an business common of 78,863 miles per truck in 2022. That makes San Diego Logistics Group’s reported mileage greater than 12 occasions the business common. An inaccurate mileage submitting or a bigger fleet working throughout 2022 might clarify the discrepancy.
Neither clarification has been confirmed, and the mileage figures come from the service’s personal filings. Its registered cargo classes additionally don’t independently set up accomplished freight deliveries. For brokers, discrepancies like this spotlight why service verification should transcend checking working authority. Federal data don’t set up whether or not the mileage discrepancy had any connection to Korkmaz’s legal conduct.
FMCSA granted the corporate’s frequent service authority on December 6, 2021. The company initiated six involuntary revocation proceedings throughout 2022 and 2023, subsequently discontinuing every one. FMCSA generally begins these proceedings when required insurance coverage protection lapses and will discontinue them after carriers restore compliance. Obtainable data don’t set up what triggered every motion towards San Diego Logistics Group.
Regulators finally revoked the corporate’s frequent service authority on January 2, 2024. Its present registration profile lists each frequent and dealer authority as inactive. Insurance coverage data present earlier cancellations and no lively major legal responsibility protection. Federal filings don’t set up any connection between these regulatory points and Korkmaz’s legal conduct.
Sentencing scheduled for January
The indictment included 12 financial institution fraud counts, two cash laundering expenses and 4 aggravated identification theft offenses. Financial institution fraud carries a most sentence of 30 years per depend. Cash laundering carries as much as 10 years per depend beneath 18 U.S.C. Part 1957. Aggravated identification theft requires a compulsory consecutive two-year jail time period. These statutory penalties don’t set up the sentence Korkmaz will finally obtain.
U.S. District Decide James E. Simmons Jr. scheduled sentencing for January 8, 2027, at 9 a.m. Assistant U.S. Legal professional Kevin Mokhtari and Particular Assistant U.S. Legal professional Katherine Rookard are prosecuting case 25-cr-1405-JES. The Justice Division has not recognized the banks or defined how Korkmaz obtained the victims’ data.
Why It Issues
A registered trucking firm turned a part of a monetary fraud operation that brought on greater than $2.1 million in losses. The case highlights the significance of analyzing firm possession, working authority and monetary exercise when evaluating transportation companies.
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