Pilot Flying J President Jimmy Haslam Answers Questions About Alleged Fuel Rebate Scam
Pilot Flying J President Jimmy Haslam emerged the evening of Dec. 13 from a daylong deposition in a civil lawsuit over the firm's alleged diesel fuel rebate scam with another denial of any role or knowledge of the fraud to which several subordinates have confessed or are facing indictment.
Haslam, who also owns the NFL's Cleveland Browns, was ordered by an Ohio judge to submit to questioning by attorneys representing three trucking firms that refused to join a class action settlement that Pilot struck with dozens of other such companies after a high-profile raid in April 2013 of the company's headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the resulting indictment of more than a dozen executives and employees, including former Pilot president Mark Hazelwood.
RELATED: Jimmy Haslam fights deposition order in Pilot Flying J Case
The deposition spanned eight hours and took place at a Pilot conference center in Alcoa, Tennessee. It was not public. Attorney Chip Cooper, who represents two of the trucking companies, said Haslam is shielding a transcript of the deposition from the public.
“Regrettably, we can’t discuss the substance of Mr. Haslam’s testimony today," Cooper said. "We can’t discuss it because Mr. Haslam insisted that his testimony be sealed and therefore shielded from public view. We plan to address this with the court in Ohio, and we encourage the press to do the same.”
Both Haslam and his attorney, Arthur Culvahouse, issued a statement Dec. 13 lambasting the three trucking firms and vowing Haslam's innocence. They did not address the shield request.
"Our client openly and truthfully answered their questions," Culvahouse said. "This entire exercise today was nothing more than an effort by the plaintiffs to harass the company into a windfall settlement."
Haslam has denied any role in the scheme, in which the FBI alleges Pilot and its staffers tricked unsophisticated trucking companies into believing they were receiving discounts on diesel fuel much greater than the amounts they actually received. The FBI has said in court records the scam netted the firm millions. Pilot's board of directors agreed to settle both the criminal case pending against the company itself and the class-action litigation, paying out a total of $179 million.
In his statement, Haslam again denied knowing what his underlings were up to.
“I wish I could discuss this entire matter freely with you today and answer your questions as I did the plaintiffs," he said in the statement. "I can’t do that yet, but I want you to know I appreciate your interest and look forward to the time when I can. This is my home and home to our family business. We continue to value the support of this community and our relationship with so many friends.”
Ten Pilot staffers, most of them sales executives, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in U.S. District Court in Knoxville in connection with the scheme. Eight executives, including Hazelwood, were indicted earlier this year. All have pleaded not guilty. A trial is set for next summer. There are two hearings set this week in that case.
It is common for parties in civil lawsuits to undergo depositions in which opposing counsel is allowed to ask questions but the person being deposed is accompanied by a lawyer who advises the client through the process. What made Haslam's deposition in the Ohio case unusual is that any statements he made could be used by federal prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Knoxville has steadfastly declined to comment on the status of the probe against Haslam.
Three trucking companies who are pursuing their own lawsuit against Pilot – FSI Express Inc., of Columbus, Ohio; HB Logistics of Birmingham, Alabama; and Wright Transportation of Mobile, Alabama – contend Pilot is shortchanging them in its class-action settlement and lying about Haslam's knowledge of the scheme.
