Florida carrier owner pleads guilty in $1 million USPS contract fraud

The owner of an Orlando-based trucking and freight brokerage company pleaded guilty to a scheme to obtain payments from the U.S. Postal Service for transportation services that were never provided, according to CDLLife on Oct. 9.

Khayyam Arif Oglu Farajov, 40, described as an Azerbaijani national, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, per an Oct. 9 statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, and agreed to pay $993,979 in restitution to USPS. Farajov owned and operated Talishco LLC. In May 2022 he enrolled in the USPS "Freight Auction" program to haul bulk mail; between June 2022 and January 2023 he was awarded hundreds of contracts. But authorities say he "routinely and intentionally did not send trucks to do the work" — telling USPS staff he had lost contact with drivers or that drivers were running late — forcing USPS to reassign the loads to other trucking companies, then going back into the platform to falsely mark loads as delivered and trigger payment.

The scheme netted about $1 million, which Farajov funneled through shell companies he owned into two personal investment brokerage accounts and then into the stock market, officials said. The government traced the funds and seized the brokerage accounts. Farajov faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count; sentencing has not been scheduled. The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General.