MOBILE, Ala. -- An Alabama judge has ordered Jimmy Haslam, CEO of Pilot Flying J Travel Centers and owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, be deposed in a civil lawsuit related to the rebate scheme plaguing the $31-billion family truckstop chain, according to reports. The order came April 15, the 3-year anniversary of the FBI raiding the company's Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters.
Haslam is expected to be subpoenaed to appear at a May 11 deposition in Knoxville, according to cort documents. The order requests the Knox County, Tennessee, clerk issue a deposition subpoena or some similar order because "it appears to this court that the just determination of the issues (in the Alabama case) requires that the deposition testimony of James A. Haslam III be taken."
Alabama-based Wright Transportation is one of many companies suing Pilot in connection to a scheme where top-ranking Pilot officials orchestrated fake rebates for customers. Haslam, brother of Gov. Bill Haslam, has denied knowing anything about the scheme. But the investigation into the problem has already led to 10 guilty pleas to federal crimes and another eight federal indictments of former leading executives at the company, according to a report in the Tennesseean.
Pilot promised fuel rebates to trucking customers but in many cases never paid them, resulting in defrauding customers of more than $56 million and forcing the company to pay a $92 million federal penalty, according to federal documents.
A spokeswoman for Tom Ingram, who serves as Pilot's legal counsel, told the newspaper, "We are aware of the request, but the matter is currently on appeal in federal court."
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