SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on March 15 convicted Davor Kovacevic and Zlate Balulovski for wire fraud and money laundering and sentenced each to four years of probation, a $200 special assessment and a total of $308,049 in restitution.
Additionally, Kovacevic was ordered to forfeit $549,034, and Balulovski was ordered to forfeit $554,967.
Kovacevic, Balulovski, along with a co-conspirator, Ryan Mower, were indicted in October 2019, according to a news release from the U.S. Inspector General’s Office.
“On approximately April 2012, Kovacevic and Balulovski, owners of several trucking companies in Utah, began bribing Mower, a line-haul manager for Federal Express Ground (FXG). Kovacevic and Balulovski asked for and received, favors, preferential treatment and assistance in defrauding FXG,” the news release stated.
The co-conspirators also used Mower’s position to manipulate FXG’s process for awarding new truck routes to FXG contract service providers, falsify mileage reports so that FXG overpaid the defendants’ companies and receive payments for “ghost routes” that they never completed, the news release noted.
As a result of the scheme, the defendants’ companies received approximately $21,373,873 from FXG and paid Mower approximately $165,000 in bribes.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Just me or was that the smallest slap on the wrist ever???