Delaware Facility Supervisor Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Federal Prison for Tax Evasion and Interstate Transportation of Stolen Goods | USAO-MD

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Joseph Kukta, 45 years old, of Laurel, Delaware, to 42 months of federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for interstate transportation of stolen property and tax evasion related to his theft and Resale of goods sent through a commercial postal service. Judge Blake has also directed Kukta to pay $ 1,101,743.91 in restitution and recovery of $ 1,880,000.

The verdict was pronounced by the Maryland District Attorney Erek L. Barron; Deputy Special Envoy Darrell J. Waldon, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Washington, DC Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

Under his agreement, Kukta served as a senior manager at the FedEx facility in Seaford, Delaware, from 2007 to July 2019, where he oversaw all operational aspects of the facility, oversaw over 100 employees and contractors, and earned more than $ 92,000 a year. The facility handled all FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery packages passing the Delmarva Peninsula.

Kukta admitted that he stole packages sent through FedEx and resold the items to co-defendant Saurabh Chawla at about 50% of the item’s retail price from 2009 to June 2019. Kukta then transported the stolen items to a relative in its vehicles and trailers from Chawla, who lived in Maryland. From approximately 2009 to 2019, Kukta received more than $ 1,880,000 in illicit revenue from the sale of stolen property worth at least $ 3,250,000.

As set out in its plea agreement, Kukta stole packages containing bulk retail and merchandise supplied by suppliers such as Apple and other high-end products to be shipped to a Walmart distribution center in Smyrna, Delaware. As of 2012, parcels were stolen from Kukta regularly and regularly, and in certain months weekly. Kukta identified packages he was going to steal by accessing FedEx computer systems and checking packages that had been loaded onto a FedEx trailer awaiting delivery to the Walmart distribution center. Kukta selected certain packages that, based on the senders of the packages, believed contained high quality electronics or other valuable goods that could easily be resold.

In 2018, Kukta also began stealing packages from FedEx trailers that were being loaded for delivery to a retail store in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Kukta went to the FedEx facility on Sundays, public holidays, or at other times when staff were not on site and removed the packages he had previously identified from the FedEx trailers. Kukta tried to avoid detection by turning off the lights in the facility and blocking certain surveillance cameras with cardboard boxes and other items. Kukta loaded the stolen packages into his trucks or vehicles operated by FedEx contractors and parked at the facility, and then drove the vehicles to his rented storage unit in Seaford, where he unloaded and stored the items.

On June 6th, 2019, Kukta learned that law enforcement had subpoenaed surveillance footage from the FedEx facility in Seaford. About two weeks later, Kukta went to the warehouse and picked up the remaining stolen items. Kukta sold this lot on an auction house in Lincoln, Delaware.

Kukta also admitted that he had bypassed paying income taxes on the program’s revenues by not reporting those revenues on his annual federal joint income tax return, resulting in a total United States tax loss of $ 660,439. To hide the revenue, Kukta gave false information to two banks when they asked why he was receiving money from Company A (which was controlled by Chawla). At each bank, Kukta incorrectly told bank representatives that he had sold items from his father’s estate, which he knew was wrong. Kukta also provided false information to the IRS during a correspondence review, claiming that the items he sold on eBay in 2014 were from his father’s estate and not from the sale of stolen goods.

Saurabh Chawla, a 36-year-old co-conspirator of Aurora, Colorado, was previously sentenced to 66 months in federal prison on federal suspicions of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen goods, and tax evasion. Chawla was also asked to repay $ 713,619 to the Internal Revenue Service and a 2013 Tesla Model S and $ 2,308,062.61 from accounts held on his behalf and property sales in Aurora , Colorado, withhold.

US Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the IRS-CI and HSI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked US assistant attorneys Harry M. Gruber and Paul A. Riley who pursued the case.

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