Khayyam Arif Oglu Farajov, a 40-year-old Azerbaijani national, has been indicted on five counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to a Mar. 10 announcement by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
The charges stem from allegations that Farajov defrauded the United States Postal Service (USPS) of more than $1 million through its Freight Auction program. The indictment states that Farajov faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count if convicted.
According to the indictment, Farajov owned Talishco LLC, a freight brokerage company. In May 2022, he enrolled in the USPS Freight Auction program and was awarded hundreds of contracts to transport mail across the country. Prosecutors allege that for most contracts, Farajov did not deliver the mail or hire anyone else to do so. Instead, he allegedly provided false excuses about missed deliveries and entered fake delivery information into the system to receive payment.
Authorities say that between June 2022 and January 2023, Farajov funneled proceeds from this scheme through various bank accounts belonging to shell companies he controlled before consolidating them into two personal investment brokerage accounts. He then invested these funds in the stock market for his own benefit.
The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the two investment accounts believed to contain proceeds from the alleged offenses. Kehoe emphasized that “an indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.” The case was investigated by the USPS Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Varadan with Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Andrejko handling forfeiture proceedings.
