How did Global Hawk operate with fake insurance policies for so long without detection?

Global Hawk submitted real certificates of insurance to the FMCSA for 512 trucks but never recorded these policies in the company's internal systems. Regulators discovered the ghost policies only by cross-referencing FMCSA filings against the broker's own records during liquidation. The scheme persisted for 11 months because Vermont's regulatory cap on new business ($15.5 million in 2019) incentivized off-books policies—if they weren't recorded, they didn't count against the cap. Thandi's control over every aspect of the organization (president, treasurer, director, sole owner of the managing general agent) eliminated internal checks that typically catch such discrepancies.

What were the losses to shippers and brokers using Global Hawk?

The restitution order calculated $38.5 million in Global Hawk liabilities, primarily unpaid policy claims. However, only $5.2 million has been recovered to date ($1.5 million in cash at liquidation, $3.7 million from Lloyd's of London, and $55,000 from defendant Padda). The remainder depends on collecting restitution from Thandi and co-defendants, who have limited financial capacity. Shippers holding Global Hawk policies face potential uncovered losses, particularly for claims incurred between fraud periods and liquidation (May 20, 2020).

How should shippers verify carrier insurance going forward?

The Global Hawk case demonstrates that broker-provided documentation is insufficient. Shippers should: (1) verify insurance directly with the carrier or licensed insurance agent using FMCSA database searches; (2) confirm the insurer's financial stability through A.M. Best ratings or state regulatory databases; (3) request certificates of insurance directly from insurance carriers, not brokers; (4) conduct periodic re-verification, especially for long-term carrier relationships; and (5) understand that Risk Retention Groups, while legitimate regulatory structures, require more rigorous oversight than traditional insurers due to thinner capitalization.

Why were Texas insurance victims paid while trucking victims were not?

Houston General Insurance Exchange collapsed in the same fraud, but as a traditional insurance company, it fell under the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association—a state-mandated fund that protects policyholders when insurers fail. Global Hawk was a Vermont-domiciled Risk Retention Group, a specialized insurance structure that operates without automatic state guaranty fund coverage in most jurisdictions. This structural difference meant Texas victims received priority payment from guaranty funds, while trucking victims depended on liquidation proceeds and criminal restitution collections.

What is the outcome of the criminal case?

All four defendants have pleaded guilty. Investment adviser Jaspreet Padda received 30 months in May 2025; Gunjan Aggarwal received 18 months in April 2025. Vice President Sandeep Sahota was sentenced on August 14, 2025, and Jasbir Thandi on August 28, 2025. A federal court entered a $66.7 million civil judgment in 2023 and a $38.8 million restitution order in July 2025. The liquidator is also pursuing litigation against auditor Crowe LLP, which issued clean opinions on Global Hawk's fraudulent financial statements; that case survived summary judgment motions in spring 2025 and remains ongoing.

Risk & Disruption

High Impact

Trucking's $38M Insurance Fraud: What Shippers Must Know

Jul 9, 2026

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The signal

Jasbir Thandi's guilty plea in the Global Hawk Insurance fraud case represents one of the trucking industry's largest insurance scheme collapses. Between 2016 and 2020, Thandi—who controlled every aspect of the Vermont-domiciled risk retention group—orchestrated a sophisticated multi-million dollar fraud involving falsified capital contributions, unauthorized loans, and over 500 ghost policies that were never recorded. The scheme left approximately 1,008 trucks operating with no actual insurance coverage at the moment of liquidation, creating catastrophic exposure for shippers and brokers who believed they had purchased legitimate coverage. The fraud's sophistication lies not in its complexity but in its brazenness.

Thandi's team photocopied deposit slips and added zeros to inflate capital contributions by orders of magnitude—$3 million deposits appeared as $300 on real statements. 1 million. By 2019, the company was reporting account balances for bank accounts that had been closed nearly a year earlier. More than half of the 512 policies issued in Global Hawk's final 11 months never appeared in company records, despite real trucks filing with the FMCSA and shippers holding certificates of insurance for non-existent coverage.

For supply chain professionals, this case exposes critical vulnerabilities in carrier insurance vetting and regulatory oversight. 5 million in liabilities, leaving shippers and brokers exposed to unrecovered claim losses. The case also reveals the disproportionate protection offered by traditional insurance guaranty associations—Texas victims of Houston General's related collapse were paid through the state's guaranty fund, while trucking victims face collection against effectively empty pockets. This creates an urgent imperative for shippers to implement rigorous carrier insurance verification protocols, including direct confirmation with insurance carriers and regulatory databases, rather than relying solely on broker-provided documentation.

#insurance-fraud

#trucking-industry

#supply-chain-risk

#regulatory-compliance

#carrier-insurance

#fraud-prevention

#risk-management

#transportation-liability

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What This Means for Your Supply Chain

Simulation Suggestion

immediate

What if your carrier's insurance verification returns conflicting results?

Simulate the operational and financial impact of discovering carrier insurance discrepancies mid-shipment. Model scenarios where: (1) certificates of insurance don't match regulatory filings, (2) claimed coverage limits differ from carrier records, or (3) insurers deny knowledge of policies. Assess impact on shipment release, claims processing, and contingency insurance costs.

Run this scenario

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this month

What if 30% of your carrier base uses Risk Retention Group insurance?

Model the financial exposure and operational disruption if a material portion of your carrier network depends on Risk Retention Group coverage without state guaranty fund protection. Simulate claims processing delays, coverage gaps, and required contingency insurance procurement costs across a fleet of 200+ carriers.

Run this scenario

Simulation Suggestion

strategic

What if insurance verification becomes a mandatory pre-shipment gateway?

Model the operational impact of implementing real-time insurance verification at shipment booking. Assess processing delays, system integration costs, exception rate thresholds, and how many shipments would be delayed pending insurance clarification based on industry fraud patterns.

Run this scenario

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