In The News

FBI, IRS investigation focuses on Pilot Flying J customer 'rebate' program

A criminal investigation has been launched into Pilot Flying J after some trucking companies claimed they weren’t paid rebates they were owed for purchasing a certain amount of fuel from the truck stop chain.

At a press conference on Tuesday, April 15, Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam, who also owns the Cleveland Browns, denied the rebates weren’t paid to customers.

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service raided Pilot Flying J’s corporate headquarters in Knoxville, TN.

In a statement following the raid, Haslam said his company will “cooperate appropriately with any and all external investigations and conduct our own.”

Rachel Albright of The Ingram Group, the public relations firm representing Pilot Flying J, issued a statement on Tuesday confirming that the investigation “appears to revolve around the application of rebates to a small group of Pilot Flying J trucking company customers.”

According to Albright, two search warrants were served on the Pilot Flying J campus on Monday and several subpoenas were served as well.

On Tuesday, it was business as usual at Pilot Flying J headquarters as well as the more than 650 travel centers across the country.

Marshall Stone, FBI supervisory special agent, told Land Line he was unable to comment on the specifics in this case because the investigation is ongoing.

“We will obviously do what we need to do with the information we’ve been gathering and complete the investigation,” Stone said. “Until that happens, we are not going to be able to comment regarding the details of that investigation and the activities that occurred yesterday.”

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