A California trucking company owner has pled guilty in a multimillion-dollar financial fraud scheme involving stolen identities, fraudulent credit card accounts and transactions through several businesses. Federal prosecutors say the scheme cost two banks more than $2.1 million, with individual credit card charges as high as $18,500.
Hasan Korkmaz, 45, of Las Vegas, was the owner of a trucking company based in Santee, California, called San Diego Logistics Group Inc. He pled guilty Oct. 15 to all 18 counts, including bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
The scheme operated in 2022 and 2023 and involved personal information of real people, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Investigators tracked the proceeds to financial accounts under Korkmaz’s control in Turkey. He spent roughly 18 months overseas before returning to the US and being arrested by authorities in June 2025.
Credit created by fraud using stolen identities
Prosecutors called the operation a credit card “bust-out” scheme, where criminals open accounts using stolen identities, run up charges, and then don’t pay the resulting balances.
Korkmaz obtained personal information, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other personal information to fraudulently open multiple credit card accounts. He also wrote checks on accounts that either didn’t exist or didn’t have enough money in them. These transactions temporarily boosted the available credit limits and allowed for further purchases.
San Diego Logistics Group was among the companies used to process fraudulent credit card payments. Some of the transactions were as high as $18,500 each, but prosecutors haven’t identified the services connected to those charges.
Court documents cited in the Justice Department’s announcement do not say whether the payments were for actual freight shipments. While there is documentation of the company’s involvement in processing the transactions, the available information does not establish a direct link between its transportation services and the fraudulent purchases.
Federal Filings Cast Doubt on Reported Trucking Activity
San Diego Logistics Group Inc. is a motor carrier registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), USDOT # 3210732, MC # 1002578.
The company currently has three trucks and five (CDL) commercial driver’s license holders. (MCS-150 as of November 2023). It also said it traveled 2,948,000 miles in 2022.
The carrier’s registered cargo categories included general freight, refrigerated food, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and U.S. mail.
But the reported miles are striking compared with industry benchmarks. Take the company’s stated annual total and divide it by its three trucks and you get about 983,000 miles per truck. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) reported an industry average of 78,863 miles per truck in 2022, meaning the company’s reported mileage was more than 12 times that benchmark.
The difference could be due to an incorrect mileage reporting or a bigger fleet in operation during the year in question. Neither option has been confirmed and the numbers are based on the carrier’s own filing and not an independently verified mileage estimate.
Similarly, the company’s registered cargo categories do not prove it made deliveries involving those commodities. The numbers show why freight brokers and other transportation partners need to do more than just check a carrier’s operating authority.
Available federal records do not indicate the mileage discrepancy was related to Korkmaz’s criminal activity.
Carrier Authority Revoked Following Prior Regulatory Proceedings
On December 6, 2021, San Diego Logistics Group received common carrier operating authority from FMCSA. The agency later filed six involuntary revocation cases in 2022 and 2023, but dismissed each case.
Such actions may be brought when a carrier’s mandatory insurance coverage expires. Once the company is back in compliance, the authorities may end the process. However, the available records do not clarify the circumstances surrounding each proceeding involving San Diego Logistics Group.
The company’s common carrier authority was ultimately revoked on Jan. 2, 2024. Its current registration profile lists both its common carrier authority and broker authority as inactive.
Insurance records also indicate prior cancelations and no current primary liability coverage. The regulatory actions are unrelated to the criminal case and federal court filings do not mention any link between the compliance record of the company and Korkmaz’s alleged fraud scheme.
The case serves as a reminder for brokers vetting carriers to look at ownership, insurance, registration and operating history together instead of depending on a single verification measure.
Outcome Will be Known by January 2027 Sentencing
Korkmaz was charged with 12 counts of bank fraud, two counts of money laundering and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
Penalties by offense vary by offense. Bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison on each count. Money laundering under 18 U.S.C. Section 1957 is punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each count. Aggravated Identity Theft carries a mandatory two year sentence of imprisonment to be served consecutively to any other applicable sentence of imprisonment.
Korkmaz’s final sentence is not determined by the maximum penalties and mandatory sentencing provisions.
U.S. District Judge James E. Simmons Jr. scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. Jan. 8, 2027. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard are prosecuting the case. The case number is 25-cr-1405-JES.
The Justice Department has not named the two banks targeted in the scheme or said how Korkmaz first obtained the victims’ personal information.
Why It’s Important
This case demonstrates that a registered trucking business can be incorporated into a large-scale financial fraud scheme that costs financial institutions millions of dollars. For freight brokers, shippers and other industry participants, it reinforces the need to look at carrier ownership, operating authority, insurance coverage and reported operating activity when vetting commercial partners.
To be sure, the regulatory history of the San Diego Logistics Group and its unusual mileage figures raise separate questions about verification, but authorities have offered no evidence that those questions were connected to Korkmaz’s criminal activity. And even when you are looking at transportation companies and their exposure to financial and operational risk, it is important to distinguish between a documented fact and an unresolved discrepancy.
