Investigations
Passenger Bus Company Operator Pleads Guilty to Fraud
On April 17, Xiu Chang Zheng (Ah Sen), former president of Apex Bus, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Zheng admitted that he conspired to make materially false statements on commercial carrier forms regulated by the FMCSA. Zheng was indicted in March 2016, along with 13 other individuals, for his role in a multi-State scheme to fraudulently operate commercial passenger bus companies.
The indictment alleged that the defendants formed, controlled, managed, and operated numerous bus companies and routinely falsified FMCSA Motor Carrier Identification Reports and applications for FMCSA operating authority. The defendants concealed who operated the companies and that the buses they operated were unsafe. Zheng admitted that he and others falsified documents that enabled their companies to obtain operating authority, licenses, stickers, insurance, and other authority indicating that their buses met Federal and State safety standards.
The indictment further alleged that the defendants falsified FMCSA-regulated records related to bus safety, maintenance, and driver qualifications to impede FMCSA inspections and reviews. Specifically, they submitted false documents indicating that the fraudulent companies had driver safety and training programs in place when they did not, and false records related to accident registers, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, drug and alcohol testing programs, and their previous company affiliations and associations.
DOT-OIG is working this investigation with Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. FMCSA provided substantial assistance.