The owner of a Florida-based trucking and freight brokerage company pleaded guilty to a scheme to obtain payments from the United States Postal Service (USPS) for transportation services that were not provided.
Khayyam Arif Oglu Farajov, 40, described as an “Azerbaijani national,” pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to an October 9 statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
He has agreed to pay $993,979 in restitution to the USPS as part of the plea.
Farajov owned and operated Orlando-based trucking company Talishco LLC.
Officials said that in May 2022, Farajov enrolled in the USPS “Freight Auction” program to haul bulk mail.
Between June 2022 and January 2023, Farajov was awarded hundreds of contracts by USPS.
However, authorities say that “Farajov routinely and intentionally did not send trucks to do the work,” telling USPS staff that he lost contact with drivers or that the drivers were running late. This forced USPS to reassign the loads to other trucking companies.
“Farajov then went back into the platform and exploited the system by falsely marking the loads as delivered and triggering payment from USPS even though he had not performed the contracted routes,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The scheme netted Farajov approximately $1 million, which he funneled into shell companies he owned, which he then reconsolidated into two personal investment brokerage accounts. He then invested funds from the brokerage accounts into the stock market for his own enrichment, officials said.
The government traced the funds and seized the contents of Farajov’s brokerage accounts.
Farajov faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service – Office of Inspector General.
