Pilot not barred from talking to trucking companies

May 2, 2013
Haslam said he was contacting trucking companies intending to pay those firms what they were owed.

A Knox County judge on Monday rejected a bid to silence Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam in the wake of a federal probe into an alleged fuel rebate rip-off scheme.

Georgia trucking company Atlantic Coast Carriers Inc., had sought at a hearing Monday to win approval of a restraining order barring Haslam and Pilot executives from contacting other trucking firms allegedly victimized by a scam to cheat them of fuel rebates.

But Circuit Court Judge Harold Wimberly ruled the firm's only proof were media accounts in which Haslam said he was contacting trucking companies he believes were shorted in the rebate rip-off and intended to pay those firms what they were owed.

Under the law, Wimberly said, the firm needed to produce an affidavit of complaint from a trucking company contacted by Haslam.

"There is no verified complaint," the judge said. "There is no affidavit."

Atlantic has filed a proposed class action lawsuit over the alleged rebate scandal. The company has not yet been awarded class action status.

Pilot headquarters on Lonas Drive were raided two weeks ago by federal authorities. Court documents allege the company intentionally shortchanged some trucking companies on fuel rebates.

In an affidavit unsealed April 18, the government released documents in which recorded conversations and information from unnamed informants were used to allege that certain Pilot employees have conspired and schemed to engage in rebate fraud for many years.

According to the affidavit, a current sales employee identified as CHS-2 -- shorthand for "confidential human source" -- alleged that the fraud has occurred with the knowledge of Jimmy Haslam.

Haslam has denied any knowledge of the alleged rebate scheme but has said he intends to repay any customers victimized by it.

At Monday's hearing, attorney Albert Harb argued on behalf of Pilot that Atlantic's claims of witness tampering and obstruction of justice against Haslam were legally bogus.

"What Pilot is doing is permissible under the (law)," Harb argued. "We're going to address this problem straight up."

Pilot, he said, "has the right to contact its customers" and a restraining order would amount to a violation of Haslam's free speech rights.

Atlantic attorney Bart Turner countered Haslam was "chasing down witnesses" and trying to pay them off to avoid both criminal and civil litigation.

"This is a very unusual case, an extraordinary case," Turner said.

"What if these people contacted Pilot themselves?" Wimberly asked.

Turner answered, "If the intent is to pay money to influence a witness, that's wrong."

The lawsuit by Atlantic accuses Pilot of racketeering, a federal crime. The FBI and the IRS -- the two agencies chiefly responsible for the raid on Pilot headquarters -- have been mum on whether Haslam himself is a target.

Public relations guru Tom Ingram after Monday's hearing said Haslam has done nothing wrong. Ingram denied Haslam was obtaining releases from liability from trucking companies he is seeking to repay. "There are letters commemorating (repayment deals) but they are not releases," Ingram said. "We are reaching out to customers every single day."

Ingram said Pilot was "delighted with the judge's decision. This is a classic case of an out-of-state lawyer proving no good deed goes unpunished."

Haslam has hired veteran white collar crime defense attorney Tom Dillard and his firm to represent him in the federal probe.

Copyright 2013 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

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