Two plead guilty to defrauding carriers
law How much revenue can you afford to lose? Whether it's for billing purposes or DOT compliance, all CAT Scales are certified. CAT Scale weights are guaranteed accurate. COVER YOUR REAR with CAT Scale. CAT SCALE CO. Walcott, IA 1-877-CAT-SCALE www.catscale.com Visit our Booth #703 at the NPTC Show , May 3-5. CCJ fleet ad 031609 3/16/09 4:13 PM Page 1 Cat Scale_CCJ0409_PG047.indd 1 3/18/09 8:49:24 AM Write 243 on Reader Service Card Two Southern California men pleaded guilty to fed-eral fraud charges for using a federal Internet site to defraud trucking companies out of at least $2.4 million, the office of the U.S. attorney for the central district of California reported. The men are scheduled to be sen-tenced on June 29. Nicholas Lakes, also known as Dmitry Nadezhdin, 35, of Glendale, and Viacheslav Berkovich, 34, of the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, both pleaded guilty Feb. 24 to com-puter fraud and mail fraud charges before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. In plea agreements filed with the court, Lakes and Berkovich admitted that they entered into a scheme to defraud trucking com-panies and brokers through use of the Internet. They accessed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System (SAFER) website in order to register fictitious carrier and brokerage entities, and they then used commercial load-boards to double-broker loads to legitimate trucking companies they never paid. For example, in January 2008, Lakes and Berkovich accessed the Internet Truckstop website and obtained information about a load being brokered by Dallas-based Stevens Transport. Using the name of Vega Trucking, one of the ficti-tious companies they had registered on the SAFER website, Lakes and Berkovich agreed with Stevens Transport to transport the load for $3,400. Lakes and Berkovich then illicitly used the name of Barkfelt Transport, a legitimate brokerage, to arrange for RK Trucking to transport the load for $4,000. RK Trucking in fact transported the load, but never got paid for its work. In early February 2008, Lakes and Berkovich received a $3,390 check via the mail from Stevens Transport, which was deposited into an account for Vega Trucking. Berkovich was the account holder for this Bank of America account. Lakes faces a maximum statutory sentence of 70 years in federal prison, and he has agreed to forfeit his interest in $1.14 million in an investment account. Berkovich faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. n April 2009 Commercial Carrier Journal 47 Two plead guilty to defrauding carriers