Owner of Michigan Trucking Business Sentenced for $2.9 Million Theft and Failure to File Tax Returns

The owner of a Michigan trucking business was sentenced today in federal court in Detroit, Michigan, to 33 months in prison for wire fraud and willfully failing to file a tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Matthew J. Schneider, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to court documents, Arshawn Kenard Hall, a resident of Farmington, Michigan, operated a truck hauling business called RAMA Enterprise Inc. (RAMA). An automobile company hired Hall to transport plastic crates filled with automobile parts.  After transporting the parts, Hall was required to return the empty crates to a facility in Detroit. Instead, Hall took the plastic crates and sold them to a plastic recycling company for approximately $460,000.  The value of the stolen plastic crates to their owner was approximately $2,921,000.

Hall also willfully failed to file a 2012 federal income tax return on behalf of RAMA and failed to pay the taxes due.  The tax loss associated with Hall’s conduct is $142,069.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. Court Judge Terrence G. Berg ordered Hall to serve three years of supervised release, to pay restitution of $2,919,265 to the automobile company and $142,069 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Schneider commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Abigail Burger Chingos and Kenneth C. Vert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adriana Dydell, who prosecuted the case. 

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the Division’s website.