A shipping contract could look legitimate. The trucking company could be real. The cargo could leave a warehouse with a driver apparently headed toward its scheduled destination.
Then, according to evidence presented during a seven-day federal trial in Los Angeles, the freight simply went somewhere else.
A jury on Sept. 29 convicted Arshpreet Singh, 28, of Sacramento, and Vikramjeet Singh, 31, of Fontana, of participating in a cargo theft conspiracy that prosecutors said used legitimate trucking businesses and authentic freight contracts to take control of valuable shipments. The stolen goods included televisions, laptops, appliances, solar panels, shoes and tires.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California placed the losses from the conspiracy at at least $2 million.
The Pickup
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Two Indian nationals, Arshpreet Singh, 28, of Sacramento, and Vikramjeet Singh, 31, of Fontana, were found guilty of conspiring to steal cargo from warehouses across Southern California by buying or fraudulently using legitimate trucking companies to bid on authentic shipping… pic.twitter.com/64azqey4El
— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) September 30, 2026
The method described at trial did not depend on breaking into warehouses or hijacking trucks on the highway.
From March 2024 through June 2025, Arshpreet Singh and others purchased or fraudulently used existing trucking companies and used them to bid on legitimate shipping jobs. Once a bid was accepted, they could collect the freight through what appeared to be an ordinary commercial transaction.
The cargo was then stolen instead of being delivered.
Federal prosecutors identified thefts in Fontana, Vernon, Santa Fe Springs, Perris, City of Industry, Long Beach, Compton, Commerce, Pico Rivera, Chino and Moreno Valley. The operation also reached Grand Prairie, Texas.
One example presented at trial involved Z&F Transportation LLC, an established Texas carrier.
In March 2024, Arshpreet Singh met with the company’s owner and purchased the business for approximately $22,000. Later that month, a co-conspirator operating on behalf of Z&F picked up a load of televisions in Fontana that was supposed to travel to Florida.
The televisions never reached the scheduled destination.
Another Carrier
The group used another established business within months.
Prosecutors said co-conspirators purchased Skyways Trucking LLC in May 2024 and subsequently used the company in thefts involving laptops, televisions, solar panels and other merchandise.
Loads were booked through freight brokers, including Uber Freight. That gave the drivers possession of cargo through real freight transactions before the shipments were diverted.
The September convictions came out of a larger federal case.
A Central District of California court calendar identifies the prosecution as United States v. Arshpreet Singh et al., case CR 25-0804-AH, before U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang. Court records from before trial listed five defendants in the case and two charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit theft from interstate or foreign shipments.
The broader investigation also reached beyond the two men who went to trial in September.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department information released when arrests were made in 2025 described a yearslong cargo-theft investigation involving numerous defendants and said members of what the department called the “Singh Organization” had acquired or fraudulently used trucking companies. That investigation traced suspected activity back to March 2021, several years before the March 2024 period prosecutors proved against Arshpreet Singh at trial.
The department said stolen freight was later moved through intermediaries or black-market channels.
Split Verdict
The jury did not return identical verdicts for the two defendants.
Both Arshpreet Singh and Vikramjeet Singh were convicted of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate or foreign shipments.
Arshpreet Singh was also convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Vikramjeet Singh was acquitted on the wire-fraud conspiracy charge.
Court records shortly before trial showed different custody statuses for the defendants: Arshpreet Singh was listed in custody while Vikramjeet Singh was listed on bond.
The case drew investigators from several jurisdictions. The FBI’s Inland Violent Crime Suppression Task Force and IRS Criminal Investigation worked with the Fontana Police Department and sheriff’s departments in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties. Fort Worth Police also participated.
January Sentencing
Hwang scheduled sentencing for both men for Jan. 20, 2027.
Arshpreet Singh faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison based on the counts on which he was convicted.
Vikramjeet Singh faces a statutory maximum of five years.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Chang of the Transnational Organized Crime Section and Lloyd Masson of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting the case.