A couple months ago another FedEx employee was sent to prison for the biggest package theft case we have ever seen. What is unique about this story is that it wasn’t just stealing packages; it was essentially a crime ring! Here’s the details:

Joseph Kukta was a senior manager of a FedEx facility, where he oversaw approximately 100 employees. The goal of this facility was to handle all the FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery packages passing through Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware.

Around 2009 Mr. Kukta teamed up with an individual named Saurabh Chawla. Mr. Chawla did not work for FedEx but had the means to sell products (likely through eBay, Amazon or by other means). The plan was hatched that Kukta would figure out how to steal the packages then sell them to Chawla at a fraction of the items value.

Kukta figured out that the easiest way to steal parcels would be to target large orders that are headed for stores like Walmart. He realized he could falsify the quantity of packages loaded onto the delivery truck, for example, if there were 4,000 PlayStations going to Walmart, he could mark the truck as containing 4,000 while stealing 10 of them, meaning Walmart would only receive 3,990 but they likely would not notice the shortage.

Kukta would then load all of the stolen boxes into a trailer and deliver them to Chawla.

By 2012 the theft had increased dramatically. Kukta wanted to aim for the highest value items, specifically Apple electronics that were supposed to be delivered to Walmart. Kukta began using FedEx’s computer systems to locate high-value truckloads.

In 2018 Kukta expanded the theft to include additional Walmart locations and rented a local storage unit so he could quickly get the pilfered merchandise out of FedEx. He would go into work on weekends and holidays when the employees were off and stack boxes high enough to block the view of the surveillance cameras. Kukta would then personally unload the loaded merchandise.

By 2019 suspicions had been raised due to the ongoing shortage of merchandise; Walmart reports the shortage meanwhile Apple is positive they sent it and in between FedEx scanned it in…. Yet somehow it never arrived to Walmart.

Everything seemed like it was going great for the two criminals until June 5, 2019 when Kukta learned that law enforcement had subpoenaed surveillance footage from his FedEx facility. In a panic, Kukta brought the stolen merchandise in the storage unit to an auction house and sold all of it. However, dumping the storage unit merch didn’t save Kukta. He was caught and police discovered he stole over 3 MILLION DOLLARS worth of merchandise.

The judge rightfully had no sympathy for either crook. The judge ordered Kukta to 42 months in prison and to pay $1,101,743.91 in restitution in addition to $1,880,000 that was seized. After the 42 months has ended he will be on supervised probation for an additional three years.

Chawla was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for federal charges of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen goods, and tax evasion. Chawla was also ordered to pay restitution to the tune of $713,619. Chawla’s seizure was $2,308,063 in addition to a vehicle. 

https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2021/10/former-sea...