CLEVELAND, Ohio — The owner of a dump truck company ripped off a longtime Cleveland-area explosives business for more than $2 million by billing for work never performed or inflating the cost of jobs, federal prosecutors say.

Gregory Shuey, the owner of Shuey Backhoe and Dump Trucking, worked with a former employee of Austin Powder Co. to carry out the scheme, prosecutors said.

Shuey was charged Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. He was charged by way of information, meaning he agreed to skip grand jury proceedings — a process that typically signals a defendant intends to plead guilty.

Shuey’s attorney, John McCaffrey, declined comment.

An Austin Powder Co. spokesman said in a statement company officials are aware of the charges.

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