Trucking Company Owner Admits $2 Million Credit Card 'Bust-Out' Using Stolen Identities

Published Oct. 28, 2026. Case statuses are current as of that date.

A "bust-out" is a credit card scam with a simple logic: open accounts in someone else's name, look like a good customer long enough to get the credit lines up, then max everything out and disappear. Federal prosecutors in San Diego say a trucking company owner did exactly that with the stolen identities of real people, leaving two banks with more than $2.1 million in losses before he fled the country.

Hasan Korkmaz, 45, of Las Vegas, owner and operator of San Diego Logistics Group Inc., a trucking company in Santee, California, pleaded guilty on Oct. 15, 2026, to all 18 counts of an indictment charging bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced [1].

Important: Korkmaz has pleaded guilty but has not been sentenced. The people whose identities were used are not named in the release, and we don't name them.

How the scheme worked, step by step

According to Korkmaz's plea agreement, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. Collecting identities. In 2022 and 2023, Korkmaz obtained names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other personal information belonging to real people.
2. Opening accounts. He used that information to apply for numerous credit card accounts.
3. Running up charges. He charged the cards at various businesses, including his own company, San Diego Logistics Group. Charges ran into the thousands of dollars each, with some as high as $18,500 in a single transaction.
4. Fake payments. To keep the scheme going, he made payments to the card accounts with checks drawn on accounts with insufficient funds or on accounts that didn't exist. That temporarily restored the available credit.
5. The bust-out. With the credit limits temporarily restored, he ran up additional charges at or near the cards' maximum limits.
6. Moving the money. He laundered the proceeds, including by transferring money to a bank account he controlled in Türkiye.

In total, prosecutors said, Korkmaz caused more than $2,103,000 in losses to two banks. Public filings describe the scheme as targeting two banks and almost 100 individual victims [1].

Flight and arrest

Right after the scheme, Korkmaz absconded to Türkiye, according to the public filings cited by prosecutors. He spent the next 18 months there before returning to the United States, where he was arrested in June 2025 [1].

The person convicted and his status

Hasan Korkmaz, 45, of Las Vegas, Nev. Pleaded guilty Oct. 15, 2026, to 12 counts of bank fraud, two counts of money laundering and four counts of aggravated identity theft in case number 25-cr-1405-JES. Bank fraud carries up to 30 years per count; the release lists a maximum of 20 years for each money laundering count; and each aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory minimum two years, consecutive to the other sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2027, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge James E. Simmons Jr. [1].

The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard are prosecuting [1].

Why this matters even if the banks took the loss

The release counts the dollar losses against the banks. But the roughly 100 people whose identities were used can face their own damage: accounts they never opened, collections calls, and hits to their credit reports that take time to clear. Bust-outs are often discovered only when a stranger's debt shows up on someone's credit file.

Red flags that your identity is being used

• Credit card bills, cards or approval letters for accounts you never opened.
• Hard inquiries on your credit report from lenders you don't recognize.
• Calls from collectors about debts that aren't yours.
• A drop in your credit score without a clear reason.
• Notice of a data breach involving your Social Security number.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A freeze is free and stops new accounts from being opened in your name.
2. Check your credit reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
3. Report identity theft and get a recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. Call the fraud department of any card issuer where an account was opened in your name, and ask that it be closed and removed from your credit file.
5. File a police report if a creditor or credit bureau asks for one.
6. Report fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Case status (as of Oct. 28, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Hasan Korkmaz, 45, of Las Vegas	U.S. District Court, S.D. Cal., 25-cr-1405-JES (Judge James E. Simmons Jr.)	Pleaded guilty Oct. 15, 2026, to all 18 counts (bank fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft); sentencing Jan. 8, 2027	[1]

Statuses can change.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California, "Owner of Santee Trucking Company Pleads Guilty to $2 Million Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme," Oct. 15, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/owner-santee-trucking-company-pleads-guilty-2-million-credit-card-fraud-and-identity

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