Corporate Report

JK Transport Express executive facing federal fraud charges
Tampa bay area transportation executive Karl Stehlin, 59, has been charged by the United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley III with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Stehlin is accused of selling fake accounts receivables from JK Transport Express Inc., JK Express Transport Inc. and a warehouse company, JK Transport Distribution and Warehouse LLC, to Transportation Funding Group Inc.

According to the indictment, Stehlin defrauded the Minnesota factoring firm from August 2008 through September 2009.

He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count and the forfeiture of $2 million.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, and Assistant United States Attorney Robert Mosakowski will prosecute it.

Florida Hospital Carrollwood offering workers' comp services to Buccaneers
Florida Hospital Carrollwood Occupational Health Services has agreed to provide workers' compensation services to the more than 400 employees of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The partnership follows an agreement last year for Florida Hospital to be the exclusive hospital of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The 6,000-square-foot occupational health clinic has seven medical staff.

New Mexico Regulators back TECO's gas company purchase
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has unanimously approved TECO Energy's pending stock acquisition of New Mexico Gas Intermediate Inc., the parent company of New Mexico Gas Co.
The vote allows TECO Energy to close the purchase of the Albuquerque-based companies within about a month, unless one of the parties requests a rehearing.

TECO has agreed to freeze New Mexico Gas rates until 2017 and will issue billing credits to customers totaling more than $11 million through expected savings. New Mexico Gas will also keep its name and headquarters in Albuquerque, N.M.

TECO has agreed to own the firm for at least a decade.

New Mexico Gas has more than 513,000 gas customers.

Seafarer Exploration adds second vessel, crew
Seafarer Exploration Corp. has added a second boat and crew to increase the company's search and potential recovery capacity.

“We are very honored that such talented people with dedicated backgrounds and service to our country choose to share in our adventure,” Kyle Kennedy, CEO of Seafarer says in a press release. “We now have the ability to cover more ground and sites in a methodical order with the skill sets necessary for our needs.”

Seafarer Exploration Corp. is a publicly traded underwater salvage and exploration company.

Tampa's LCG Advisors adds top executives
Tampa-based LCG Advisors has hired Vincent Della Rocca as managing director and Kevin Daniels as its chief operating officer and chief compliance officer.

Della Rocca has more than 20 years of diverse experience in the financial services industry, including investment and commercial banking, insurance, real estate development and financial technology. He will be responsible for developing relationships with entrepreneurs and executives as part of LCG's trusted advisor approach.

Daniels joins LCG with more than 20 years of risk management and operations experience in financial services and recently served as chief credit officer for one of the industry's largest asset custodians.

Express Employment Professionals franchises grow hires, revenue
Bradenton-based Express Employment Professionals, a franchised staffing company, reported that through the first six months of 2014 it put an average of 5,370 new people to work each week, up from an average of 2,509 in 2009.

“From the depths of the Great Recession, we have doubled the number of new people being hired,” Bob Funk, Express Employment Professionals CEO and chairman of the board, says in a press release. “The company is on track to employ more than 450,000 people by the end of the year.”

Through the first half of 2014, Express franchisees generated more than $1.3 billion in sales, a 16% increase over the same period in 2013 and surpassing the staffing industry average growth of 8%.