The Federal Government Investigated 203 Transportation Cases in Two Years. 7 Were About Moving Fraud.

The DOT Office of Inspector General closed 203 investigations in 2023 and 2024 (FOIA response OIG-FOIA-25-0095). Trunk reviewed every case. Approximately 7 involved household goods moving companies. That is 3.4% of the OIG's investigative caseload.

In the same two-year period, FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database received roughly 9,000 consumer complaints about moving companies. The ratio of consumer complaints to completed OIG investigations is approximately 1,300 to 1.

The 203 closed investigations broke down approximately as follows:

Aviation (FAA): ~60 cases. Certificate fraud, laser pointer incidents, unauthorized aircraft operations, unruly passengers, unmanned aircraft systems.

Grants and procurement: ~40 cases. Embezzlement, false claims, DBE eligibility fraud, bid rigging.

Highway and motor carrier safety: ~30 cases. Falsification of safety standards, log book fraud, carriage by motor vehicle, FMVSS violations.

Railroad: ~15 cases. Falsification of required records, interference with railway operations.

Pipeline and hazardous materials: ~15 cases.

Maritime: ~10 cases.

DOT employee misconduct: ~20 cases. Ethics violations, bribery, time and attendance fraud, abuse of authority.

Household goods moving fraud: ~7 cases.

Other: ~6 cases.

Of the approximately 7 HHG-related cases closed in 2023-2024:

- 2 involved fraudulent registration filings (chameleon carrier reincarnation), including the Billingslea case in Georgia that resulted in 30 months of incarceration - 1 was classified as 'Operation Bust a Mover' targeting a company called ZANO in the Miami region - 1 involved Fly Movers and Storage (target: Chornovol), a household goods investigation in the Washington DC region that took 2 years to close - 1 involved Konami Moving and Storage in the Los Angeles region, which took over 3 years to close (opened February 2021, closed September 2024) - 2 additional cases had details redacted under FOIA privacy exemptions

Half of the identifiable HHG investigations were about chameleon carrier reincarnation, the pattern of dissolving a company with a bad record and reopening under a new name. This is the same pattern FMCSA's MOTUS system is supposed to detect and the SAFE Act is designed to prevent.

A separate FOIA response covering 2021-2022 (OIG-2023-0021) shows a similar allocation. Out of approximately 100+ closed investigations, roughly 8 involved motor carrier or HHG cases. Of those 8, at least 4 were chameleon carrier reincarnation investigations, including the Mars Transportation Services case.

The pattern is consistent across four years: approximately 5-8% of OIG investigations involve motor carriers, and within that slice, half are about the same problem: reincarnated carriers.

FMCSA received 4,484 consumer complaints about moving companies in 2025. The OIG closes approximately 3-4 HHG investigations per year.

For context: the OIG investigated more cases involving laser pointers aimed at aircraft than household goods moving fraud. It investigated more cases involving unmanned aircraft systems (drones) than companies holding consumers' belongings hostage.

The OIG has never audited FMCSA's household goods enforcement practices. No systematic review of whether the complaint intake process, the enforcement pipeline, or the penalty structure is functioning has ever been conducted.

The 3.4% allocation is not a staffing constraint. It is a priority decision. The OIG investigates what the Department considers important. Household goods moving fraud, which affects 4 million Americans who move interstate each year, does not make the list.

Importantly, OIG investigations are separate from FMCSA's own enforcement record. OIG gets referrals from FMCSA but operates independently. These 203 cases are not part of FMCSA's A&I (Analysis and Information) enforcement data. FMCSA's Protect Your Move website, the only consumer-facing portal, contains no information about enforcement actions by either FMCSA or OIG. Enforcement is invisible to consumers researching movers and invisible to the moving companies themselves. A carrier with 166 complaints cannot see whether FMCSA or OIG is investigating it, and a consumer cannot see whether enforcement has ever been attempted against a company they are considering hiring.