Truck Topics

Carrier Services, LLC gets caught!

In this edition of Road Law, we'll tell you about the fate of one company who allegedly defrauded owner-operators, including many OOIDA members, in a third party registration agent scheme.  Over the past year, we've been contacted by many OOIDA members to discuss their problems regarding Carrier Services, LLC (Carrier Services). Here's the most common question we received.

Question: I'm an owner-operator and I just got a letter from the Oklahoma Tax Commission saying that I owe an additional $4,000.00 in mileage taxes for last year.  I don't understand. I use a registration agent, Carrier Services  in Oklahoma and I reported all my miles to them accurately and on time.  I even included a check for my estimated miles when I mailed my registration information back to Carrier Services. I thought all my Oklahoma registration taxes were paid. What's going on?  

Answer: Over the last year, ROAD LAW has received many calls from OOIDA members who were using an Oklahoma, third party registration agent company by the name of Carrier Services, LLC. 

Member complaints were usually the same . . . the OOIDA member had recently received an audit notice from the Oklahoma Tax Commission stating that they were being assessed their actual miles verses their estimated miles. Most members were confused by this, had tried to contact Carrier Services but were unable to get any answers.

If you were one of the many OOIDA members using Carrier Services as your registration agent, here's your answer.  The Daily Oklahoman recently reported that the owners of Carrier Services, LLC were indicted on 71 felony counts, including bribery, conspiracy and racketeering in a scheme that cheated Oklahoma, and you, out of truck registration fees.

An Oklahoma grand jury recently found evidence Carrier Services collected registration fees from out-of -state trucking companies, many of whom where owner-operators and OOIDA members, but turned over much less money to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. 

Specifically, the owners of Carrier Services are accused of faking mileage figures in renewal applications and bribing Oklahoma Tax Commission employees to accept the fraudulent documents.  Grand jurors alleged the owners of Carrier Services paid Oklahoma Tax Commission employee(s) $76,900 in bribes between December 14, 2000, and March 27, 2001.

Oklahoma County Prosecutors revealed during a recent bail hearing that two of the four owners of Carrier Services, LLC paid themselves $2,589,693 with the other two owners taking $1,701,735.00.  The indictment didn't disclose the alleged loss to the state of Oklahoma.  Prosecutors would only say it was "substantial."

What does all this mean for OOIDA members who were unfortunate enough to be associated with Carrier Services and have received a notice of audit from the Oklahoma Tax Commission?

You'll probably have to make up the difference between what Carrier Services was supposed to pay and what was actually turned over to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. No, it's not a fair or equitable outcome and it's unlikely Carrier Services has enough business assets to make a civil law suit practical.

So, the only relief you may have is the peace of mind knowing that the owners of Carrier Services, LLC are facing a maximum punishment of more than 450 years in prison, plus a life sentence.

We hope you can use the information in this column to help with every day, real life problems you face on the road.  We invite you to send us any questions or comments you may have regarding transportation law to:

ROAD LAW
1330 N. Classen Blvd., Suite 215
Oklahoma City, OK 73106;
fax to (405) 272-0558; 
(405) 272-0555
www.roadlaw.net