Santee Company Owner Charged In Alleged $2M Credit Card Fraud Scheme

SANTEE, CA — The owner of a Santee trucking company who allegedly opened multiple credit cards under other people's names, causing over $2 million in losses to two banks, is facing federal bank fraud, money laundering, and identity theft charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege Hasan Korkmaz, 44, owner and operator of San Diego Logistics Group, applied for credit card accounts using the personal identifying information of other people, including their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.

Those credit cards were then allegedly used to incur massive charges, including as high as $18,500 for one transaction. He's also accused of restoring the cards' credit limits by making fraudulent payments from nonexistent accounts or accounts with insufficient funds.

He then allegedly laundered proceeds of the bank fraud by moving the money to a Turkish bank account he controlled, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Korkmaz, who is charged in an 18-count indictment, made his initial court appearance on Tuesday.

— City News Service