Action in three trucking-related crimes – including a CDL testing scheme, household goods moving fraud and a trucking company owner sentenced for tax evasion – has recently been reported by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice.
New Jersey trucking company owner sentenced for tax evasion
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office in New Jersey announced a former trucking company owner and operator has been sentenced to two years in prison for evading $2.3 million in personal and corporate income taxes between 2002 and 2011, and in 2015.
Tito Viteri, 41, of Cream Ridge, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to the charge. According to the report, Viteri owned several trucking companies that performed delivery services.
An IRS audit in 2008 found that he owed approximately $785,000 in unpaid taxes for one of his companies, and the he himself owed approximately $315,000 in unpaid personal income taxes. He began making payments to the IRS in August 2011 but stopped in December 2013, claiming he was not “bringing enough money home.”
Then from February 2013 to February 2016, Viteri made approximately $111,000 in rental payments for a property and purchased a home for more than $920,000. DOJ says he arranged for the home to be purchased in his mother’s name to hide the purchase from the IRS.
In addition to the two-year prison term, Viteri was also sentenced to two years of supervised release.
New York HHG moving company owners charged with fraud
Michael Nadel and Yarin (Joe) Nadel were indicted Oct. 25 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud and making false statements.
OIG says the Nadels are owners and operators of State to State Moving NY, Green Peace Transportation, Around the Clock Moving Services and other moving companies.
They allegedly agreed to defraud customers by misrepresenting the estimated charges for their moving services. They then extorted customers by refusing to return or threatening to sell or auction the goods unless they received more money.
The indictment alleges the Nadels registered several different corporate entities using fictitious names and business addresses and submitted falsified information to FMCSA by not disclosing affiliations with other carriers whose operating authority had been revoked.
Former Mississippi Highway Patrol examiner sentenced for selling CDLs
Tonya Davis, a former CDL examiner for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, was sentenced to two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $200 special assessment fee.
OIG says its investigation found that between September 2017 and January 2018, Davis committed fraud by using the names and testing identification credentials of multiple CDL testers without their consent. She also represented on paperwork and in the state database that individuals passed driver skills tests when they had not taken the tests.
