Jimmy Haslam's Company Has Engaged In Fraud For 'Many Years', FBI Says

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s travel center company for “many years†engaged in a fraud scheme to keep millions of dollars owed to customers as gas rebates, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday.

The documents further say Haslam knew about the fraud committed by top sales officials at his family business, Pilot Flying J, in which employees fleeced unsophisticated trucking companies through a company-wide rebate program, the documents say.

A 120-page affidavit for a search warrant filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn., says Pilot Flying J sales employees withheld fuel price rebates and discounts from certain companies to boost the profitability of the company and increase their sales commissions. The affidavit says FBI and IRS agents are investigating charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud.

The document says “the rebate fraud has occurred with the knowledge of Pilot’s current President Mark Hazelwood and Pilot’s Chief Executive Officer James A. “Jimmy†Haslam III, due to the fact that the rebate fraud-related activities have been discussed during sales meetings in Knoxville, Tenn., in which Hazelwood and Haslam have been present.â€

Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer

 

Woops.

 

So what now Roger? So much for the NFL's rigid guidelines for approving an owner...lol. I'm just a bit sad that he's no longer an investor in the Steelers...that's probably where the money came to pay all the officials!

 

No different than any other corporation. Fraud makes billionaires. Ask any employee how much they make.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf0chqf6e9o]FBI: Browns Owner Haslam Knew Of Company's Fraud - YouTube[/ame]

 

things were looking up for the browns ............. we thought maybe they finally had a good owner and now he may be going to jail........... wow.

 

Sure it doesnt look great based on what I've heard, but who goes to prison in these situations? Rarely the owner unless they can prove he gave explicit directions to commit the fraud. In our system, maybe knowing about stuff can be brushed off, the guy's a billionaire, how often do those people go to prison anymore?

 

Drain him with litigation, penalites and fees methinks

 

He kind of reminds me of DeBartolo.

 

agreed Omen. that is an extremely uneducated view and a rather sad example of how some people have allowed themselves to be 'taught'. The ironic part is these are the same people that flip their lid if:

1) someone connects laziness to our country's welfare system
2) a person says that illegal immigration is a drain on our government programs/funds
3) someone reminds everyone that our federal government has exploded well beyond the size our constitution states it should be

There is such an anti-capitalist/pro-big government sentiment among too many people in this country from years of being 'educated' that way and one of the results is they sincerely believe every profitable corporation is evil.

It's quite amazing but somewhat understandable. Only half of the adults in the U.S. work full-time. And of the half of U.S. workers that DO work full-time, only a fraction of them have ever owned a business, run a business, or even care to understand how hard it is to run a business. Too many of them work for government agencies, schools, or are just hourly laborers who feel like they are being held down by 'the man'.

I sleep well at night because I worked for many years in lower-paying hourly manual labor jobs when i was younger and then after my education i have owned businesses, been self-employed, and also been a salaried employee at different times.

I have walked in everyone's shoes from a work/business standpoint and can respect the pros/cons of all of them. And the mental midgets that believe owning or running a business is nothing but trying to scam people, steal money, or 'hold their employees down' don't have the slightest clue as to what they're talking about.

 

I can't disagree with much of your post, I just don't get where it's coming from or what prompted it..?

 

Omen and I are referring to the below comment

 

I believe we have had this conversation before. Capitalism good, corporatism bad.