Salt Lake Trucking Group found guilty of cheating FedEx out of $108M, bribing employees

Ryan Bittan
·2 min read
20

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A federal jury has convicted two owners of a local trucking conglomerate of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The two individuals — Yevgeny Felix Tuchinsky, 63, of Salt Lake County, and Konstantin Mikhaylovich Tomilin, 54, of Salt Lake County — owned a group of trucking companies named Salt Lake Trucking Group. According to court documents, they paid over $300,000 in bribes to FedEx Ground employees, resulting in the conglomerate receiving $108 million from FedEx over a 10-year period.

“FedEx contracts with local trucking companies to haul FedEx packages in semitrucks,” a release states. “FedEx refers to these companies as contract service providers (CSPs). FedEx pays the CSPs by the mile.”

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Tuchinsky and Tomilin’s companies were a part of those providers that picked up and delivered semitrailers full of packages at the FedEx Ground Hub in North Salt Lake. According to the release, from around 2009 into 2019, the two bribed FedEx employees to provide more business to their companies.

The bribes resulted in the companies gaining unearned FedEx business for over a decade.

Tuchinsky and Tomilin reportedly also owned shell companies and lied to FedEx about the true ownership of the companies. “This concealed from FedEx that SLTG owned and operated the shell companies and that the shell companies shared the same owners, assets, trucks, and employees,” the release states.

Among their other offenses were lying about driver qualifications and failing to honestly report accidents.

“The defendants’ bribery and lies resulting in SLTG receiving $108 million from FedEx. Tuchinsky personally gained $7 million and Tomilin personally gained over $4 million from the scheme,” the release states.

Tuchinsky and Tomilin’s sentencing is scheduled for May 20 at the U.S. District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

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