Memphis, TN – A Bulgarian national has been sentenced to 37
months in federal prison for mail fraud. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for
the Western District of Tennessee announced the sentence today.
According to information presented in court, Dimitar
Petlechkov, 35, engaged in a scheme to defraud FedEx by fraudulently linking
his FedEx shipping account to a national shipping account that had significant
shipping discounts. Petlechkov was not entitled to receive these discounts. He
then offered reduced shipping rates to third party shippers to use his FedEx
account for their own shipping needs. Petlechkov offered them a better shipping
rate than they could get on their own, but not the full discount he
fraudulently received. The scheme ran for almost five years, from January 2009
to April 2014. Petlechkov made over $300,000 in profits during that time.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "This long-term
fraudulent scheme had significant financial consequences to the corporate
interests of the victim, FedEx Corporation, and created unfair business
advantages in interstate commerce and the shipping industry. This office is committed
to the protection of business and corporate interests in interstate commerce,
and this sentence, restitution, and subsequent removal will hold the defendant
accountable while providing justice for the victim."
On August 31, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Jon P. McCalla
sentenced Petlechkov to 37 months imprisonment; Petlechkov was also ordered to
pay restitution of $801,000 to FedEx and faces deportation to Bulgaria at the
conclusion of his sentence. Petlechkov has been in the United States illegally
as a visa overstay since 2000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated this
case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Pritchard prosecuted this case
on the government’s behalf.
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