Investigations

On May 28, 2019, Xiu Cheng Zheng (Ah Sen), former president and officer of multiple bus companies, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to 10 months’ imprisonment, 12 months’ supervised release, $600 in fines and fees, and to forfeit $1,492,633. Zheng is scheduled to surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on July 11, 2019.

 

In March 2016, a Federal grand jury indicted Zheng and 13 other individuals, charging them with conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The indictment alleged that the defendants conspired to form, control, manage, and operate numerous bus companies—including All-State Travel Bus, Asia Tours, Apex Bus, New Egg Bus, and Universe Bus—in multiple States and routinely falsified Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Motor Carrier Identification Reports and applications for operating authority. These activities concealed the actual operators of the companies and that the buses were unsafe.

 

The investigation revealed that the defendants conspired to falsify FMCSA-regulated records related to bus safety, maintenance, and driver qualifications to impede Agency inspections and reviews. Specifically, they submitted false documents indicating 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. Zheng admitted that he falsely certified or omitted information on FMCSA documents causing unsafe buses to be operated by unqualified drivers.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Department of Homeland Security–Homeland Security Investigations