According to officials, the owner of a trucking company in Ohio has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in a scheme to defraud shippers.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG), Gurtej Singh, also known as Gary Bhullar, has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and 100 hours of community service. This sentence was handed down on September 11, 2024.
Singh pleaded guilty in February 2024 to wire fraud charges.
Singh planned to illegally consolidate cargoes to save on delivery costs from April 2018 to May 2022, but failed to deliver multiple loads to their final destinations, according to officials.
Authorities allege that Singh and linked entities charged a premium for truckload services for customers such as Bath and Body Works and Amazon but subsequently “opened trailers and consolidated cargo to generate higher profits.” They changed the seal serial numbers and documentation, among other methods, to conceal the scam from shippers and receivers.”
From the United States 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 to 2019, before starting his own trucking company, Bhullar Transport Group LLC, in January 2020 and running it until May 2022.
Despite his affiliations with Cargo Solutions Express, Roadhawk Transportation, and Show Time Carrier, Singh claimed in an FMCSA application that Bhullar Transport Group was not associated with any other FMCSA-regulated entities.
The DOT-OIG and the Columbus Police Department jointly conducted the investigation.
