A Georgia motor carrier, the latest of more than 20 trucking companies to file fuel-rebate fraud lawsuits against Pilot Flying J, is seeking to depose Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam in October.
Cedar Creek Trucking, Dalton, Ga., filed a lawsuit Monday in Knox County Circuit Court in Knoxville, Tenn., alleging that Pilot “regularly, purposely and intentionally understated the amount owed to Cedar Creek and other similar companies, promised by Pilot sales representatives as a rebate for purchase of their diesel fuel.”
Cedar Creek, which owns about 45 trucks, said that as a result of being shortchanged, it was “forced to restructure debt and financing it would otherwise not have had to do.”
It is also seeking to depose other Pilot officials, including President Mark Hazelwood; John Freeman, vice president of national sales; and Tom Ingram, a public relations consultant.
A string of primarily federal lawsuits filed against Pilot came after the FBI raided the company’s Knoxville headquarters in April. Haslam has denied any knowledge of the rebate fraud.
Since the investigation became public, seven Pilot officials have pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme, and a panel of federal judges earlier this month denied plaintiffs’ motions to consolidate about a dozen suits against the truck-stop operator.
