This article is Part 2 of a Fox News Digital exclusive series investigating trucking fraud, public safety, and assimilation concerns in southwest Ohio. You can .
MAINEVILLE, OHIO â A mosque rising amid rural homes and farmland in southwest Ohio has become a focal point in the communitys growing concerns over an influx of foreign-owned trucking companies and trucking fraud, with a Fox News Digital review revealing significant financial ties between the mosque, trucking companies and the government of Uzbekistan.
Roughly one mile north of the main intersection in Maineville, a small Warren County village with about 1,400 residents, sits the Islamic Center of Maineville, which has been under construction for the past four years following its approval by Hamilton Township in April 2022.
Fox News Digital found that the mosque received substantial donations from trucking companies that government records show were cited for serious safety and compliance violations, while the mosques own Telegram channel displayed associations with people identified as current or former Uzbek officials.
For years, the Islamic Center of Maineville has posted on Telegram to its 3,600 members, courting donations, acknowledging partnerships with trucking companies, and even sharing screenshots of donations from local trucking companies, owned by Uzbeks, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Buraq Limited, a Springboro trucking company associated with Rukhshona Sultonova, donated at least $28,000 to the Islamic Center across 28 gifts, according to Telegram screenshots reviewed by Fox News Digital.
A review of the companys records found dozens of reported violations, including multiple English-proficiency violations, four ELD (electronic logging device) violations, three invalid-CDL violations, four expired medical cards and four hours-of-service violations.Â
Premier Trucking Group Inc., owned by Sam Avazov, has received over 100 total violations, including for unsafe driving and invalid CDLs. In September, the Islamic Center posted a screenshot of a $1,000 donation from Premier Trucking Group, which has donated at least $25,000 to the mosque.
Foko Logistics LLC, owned by Abubakr Olimov and based in Hilliard, donated $20,000 in a single gift to the mosque, and had 52 violations across 37 inspections in FMCSAs current 24-month record. The company had vehicle-maintenance violations involving damaged brake hoses, an inoperable tractor-protection valve and severely underinflated tires. Ten of its 24 vehicle inspections resulted in an out-of-service designation, a rate of 41.7%.
Maca Transportation and Services LLC, based in Dayton and owned by Muminkhuja Kholkhujaev, donated at least $7,000 across eight gifts. FMCSAs records show 120 violations across 72 inspections, including an English-proficiency failure and multiple false or incomplete hours-of-service records. The company also had serious brake, tire, and other vehicle-maintenance violations, with 14 of 36 vehicle inspections resulting in an out-of-service designation, or 38.9%.
One trucking company that gave $150,000 to the mosque and helped organize the overall fundraising effort , Phoenix Cargo, told Fox News Digital the mosque approached the company multiple times asking for donations but said the $150,000 figure the company ultimately donated “represents only a fraction of the mosque’s total construction budget” and that “Phoenix Cargo is not even among the project’s top 100 donors.”
Phoenix Cargo has been cited hundreds of times for safety violations, including English proficiency, ELD tamperin
