TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- About $247,000 in back pay is at the center of a rental dispute and a shareholders disagreement that has led to an uncertain future for seven Jiffy Mini-Mart locations in Terre Haute, Ind.
Customers of these seven locations recently have been greeted with gas pumps covered in plastic bags, signs that read “No Gas,” low and discounted inventory and shortened hours (the stores had operated around the clock), according to a report from The Tribune Star.
Special Judge Matthew Headley of Putnam County Circuit Court ordered the liquidation of assets of the companies that operate the Jiffy Mini-Marts, the newspaper said. That ruling is now on appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals. On Tuesday, Headley ruled to suspend payment of receiver/attorney, stopping liquidation, until the appeals court rules.
BDS Oil Co. LLC, headed by Japneet S. Khaira, purchased the Jiffy Mini-Marts in 2011. BDS Oil owns the land on which the gas stations and convenience stores operate. Khaira and business partner Raspinder Singh formed three companies—Khaira Petroleum Inc., JR Oil Inc. and JR Gas Inc.—to own and operate the stations.
A representative for Jiffy Mini-Mart, reached by CSP Daily News, would not comment.
In December 2011, BDS Oil entered into a 10-year lease agreement with the three companies, the report said. Singh made personal guarantees on behalf of the three companies for lease payments, according to court documents filed in Vigo County Superior Courts Division 3.
By 2015, however, a dispute between the two owners erupted over management and control of the companies. The partners entered into oral agreements only over shareholder amounts and now dispute their ownership. One contends they have equal shares, while the other says it’s 60/40, according to court documents.
Singh, in a lawsuit filed in May 2015 in Vigo County Superior Court Division 6, claimed that while Khaira managed the stores, it became indebted to the Indiana Department of Revenue and payments were missed to the Hoosier Lottery. Also, Khaira Petroleum became a defendant in several collection matters from convenience-store vendors, court documents show. Singh was granted management of the businesses in a temporary restraining order.
In July 2015, Khaira filed a lawsuit in Division 3, claiming BDS Oil Co. had not received $53,100 in monthly rent since March 2015, said the report, and by February 2016, BDS Oil claimed it was owed $247,000 in past rent and interest payments.
BDS Oil bought eight Jiffy Mini-Mart locations from Jim and Pat Fast in 2011. The eight stores were all located in Terre Haute, with the exception of one store in Marshall, Ill., near the Indiana-Illinois state line.
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