News Desk · Fraud

Trucking firm owner pleads guilty to laundering over $1 million taken from USPS

Khayyam Arif Oglu Farajov, an Azerbaijani national who ran an Orlando trucking and freight brokerage, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say he was paid for mail routes his company never ran and moved the money through shell company accounts into brokerage accounts.

FraudUS9 Oct 20262 min read

The US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on October 9, 2026 that Khayyam Arif Oglu Farajov, 40, an Azerbaijani national, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the release, Farajov owned and operated Talishco LLC, a trucking and freight brokerage company in Orlando. In May 2022 he enrolled the company in the US Postal Service's "Freight Auction" program, which is used to transport bulk mail. Between June 2022 and January 2023, he won hundreds of contracts to haul mail across the country.

The release says Farajov often did not send trucks to pick up the mail. When USPS asked where the trucks were, he gave false excuses, which forced USPS to reassign the loads. He then marked the loads as delivered in the program's system so that USPS would pay for routes his company never ran.

Prosecutors say Farajov obtained more than $1 million this way. He funneled the money through a series of bank accounts belonging to shell companies he owned, then moved it into two personal investment brokerage accounts and invested it in the stock market. Those accounts were seized. As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit the seized accounts and to pay an additional $993,979 in restitution to USPS. The USPS Office of Inspector General investigated the case.

Why it matters to AML professionals

This case shows how fraud proceeds from a government contract can be layered through several business accounts before landing in an investment account in the fraudster's own name. AML professionals at banks and brokerages see each step separately, so the link between a small logistics company's payments and a personal trading account is often only visible when activity is reviewed across accounts and related entities.

Red flags in this case

If this landed in your queue

  1. Compare the business's incoming payments with the expenses you would expect for its stated activity, such as fuel, drivers and vehicle costs
  2. Map transfers between related business accounts and identify the common owner or signer
  3. Trace where the money ends up, including transfers to personal investment or brokerage accounts
  4. Document the pattern and escalate for a SAR if the movement has no clear business purpose

Key terms

Layering
Moving illicit money through a series of accounts or transactions to hide where it came from.
Shell company
A company that exists mainly on paper, with little or no real business activity.
Forfeiture
A legal process where the government takes property linked to a crime.

Interview angle

A small trucking company's account receives large government payments and sends most of it on to other companies with the same owner. How would you review it?

Explain that you would check whether the business has normal operating costs, link the related companies through ownership, follow the money to its final destination such as a personal investment account, and escalate for a SAR if the flows have no business purpose.

Sources

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Every fact in AMLift News Desk stories comes from an official source: a regulator, court, government gazette or the company's own filing.