🔗 Share this article

Criminal syndicates are allegedly acquiring legitimate transport companies to masquerade as legitimate truckers and methodically steal valuable shipments, based on new findings.

Proof has emerged indicating that multiple haulage operations were purchased using decedent persons' personal information, allowing criminals to create fraudulent business structures.

Sophisticated Deception Operation

A particular haulage company was later hired as a subcontractor by an unsuspecting UK transport business. Manufacturers then loaded one of the subcontractor's lorries with merchandise that subsequently vanished completely.

The business owner, who operates a central England transport company that was victimized by the fraudulent contractors, described the circumstances as "incredible" that "criminal elements can infiltrate companies so blatantly".

"Consumers should care because it impacts your wallet," commented an industry expert, previously a safety director for a major supermarket.

Rising Cargo Crime Statistics

Such brazen method constitutes just one of multiple ways criminals are targeting transport firms that transport commercial stock and additional materials across the country, with freight criminal activity in the UK increasing to £111m last year from £68m in 2023.

Documented footage shows perpetrators looting lorries during deliveries, forcing entry into vehicles while stationary in congestion, cutting locks and entering depots, and taking complete trailers packed with goods.

Driver Experiences

Operators, who frequently must stop and rest overnight in their vehicles, have reported waking to find the curtained sides of their trucks slashed by thieves attempting to access the contents inside, with shipments of designer clothing, beverages and electronics among the particularly common objectives.

Organized Action

Law enforcement agencies have stated that cargo crime is becoming "more sophisticated, more organized" and stressed that law enforcement forces need to work with the sector to tackle the issue.

Deception targeting hauliers - encompassing perpetrators using fraudulent transport businesses - is rising in the UK, based on authoritative sources.

"The sector is being targeted," says Richard Smith, managing director of a major transport organization.

Complex Examination

The deception scheme appears to mirror a methodology previously observed in continental Europe, where "legitimate haulage businesses on the verge of bankruptcy" are acquired by organized crime syndicates who collect several cargoes "before vanish".

Following the targeting of the business owner's company, investigating officers told her that authorities were additionally investigating comparable incidents in different regions of the UK.

Detailed Incident

The transport firm, which transports millions of pounds around the country each year, had contracted out to a less established transport company for a job earlier this year.

"The coverage was in place, their operators' permit was in place," she explains. "It appeared promising." The lorry arrived at the production facility, filling equipment filled it with DIY products and the truck drove off, she states.

However unknown to the business owner and the producers, the vehicle had been using fake number plates. It vanished with the shipment worth at £75,000.

"Initial indication we had about it was the destination company called us and asked, 'where is our shipment gone" the owner says. She attempted to call the contractor, but the number had been disconnected.

Identity Fraud Element

So who had appropriated the merchandise? Researchers followed a complex path to attempt to determine the solution, involving a deceased individual's personal information, a unknown Eastern European female and a £150,000 luxury vehicle.

The company the owner contracted was named Zus Transport. A month prior to the theft, it had been sold by its former owners - with no suggestion they were involved in any wrongdoing.

Investigation discovered that the takeover was funded by a bank transfer from a company controlled by a UK-based Eastern European transport operator called Ionut Calin, who used his second name Robert.

Investigators identified a network of five haulage businesses, including Zus Transport, seemingly acquired by the individual this year.

But the individual had passed away in November 2024, confirmed with government records. This was months prior to his financial details had been utilized to purchase multiple of the companies and his identity used to establish several of them at official company records.

Additional Investigation

There is no basis to suspect he was participating in illegal activity, and numerous people on online platforms paid tribute to him as a good man who assisted others in the sector.

The previous owners of multiple of the haulage companies stated they had dealt not with the deceased individual, but with a individual called "the pseudonym".

Investigators identified him by examining the director of Zus Transport listed in government documents, a Eastern European female. Data about her is scarce, but a phone number for her was located. When checked in communication applications, it displayed a account image of a young female, with a alternative name, in a luxury automobile.

The profile picture assisted in identifying her as a family member of Mr Calin, and the spouse of a man named Benjamin Mustata. Mr Mustata and his spouse had been photographed for a image when taking delivery of a luxury vehicle from a retailer in April, a week after the incident targeting Alison's enterprise.

Encounter

When shown images from online platforms of Mr Mustata to a former owner of one of the haulage companies, he recognized him as "the pseudonym" - the man he had encountered face-to-face to negotiate the transfer of the business.

A contact number