Eighth Pilot Flying J Employee Pleads Guilty to Fraud
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Another Pilot Flying J employee has pleaded guilty in connection with allegations of fraud in the company's fuel rebate program.
Brian Mosher, director of sales for national accounts, entered a guilty plea in federal court on Monday. Mosher, of Bettendorf, Iowa, told U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar that he is pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
He is the eighth former Pilot Flying J employee to plead guilty to criminal charges, the newspaper noted.
According to the 120-page affidavit that outlines the fraud allegations against the company, one of Mosher's former subordinates, Cathy Giesick, told investigators that Mosher was engaging in rebate fraud targeting approximately 20 customer accounts for which Giesick was responsible. The affidavit includes transcripts of a secretly recorded sales meeting in which Mosher allegedly led multiple break-out sessions about manual rebates, which are at the center of the criminal investigation, the newspaper reported.
The affidavit -- which was the basis for the April 15 federal raid on Pilot Flying J's Knoxville headquarters -- also sought to tie Mosher to some of Pilot Flying J's top executives, including CEO Jimmy Haslam. Haslam has maintained all along that he did not have any knowledge of the rebate fraud scheme.
Seven other employees have already pleaded guilty in the case. They include Scott Fenwick, former regional sales manager and Janet Welch, former senior account manager. The other five employees are Arnold Ralenkotter, a former regional sales director based in Kentucky; Ashley Judd, an account representative; Holly Radford, an account representative; Jay Stinnett, an assistant to senior sales executives; and Kevin Clark, a regional sales manager based in Missouri.
Pilot Flying J is a family-owned business that was started by Haslam's father in 1958. The company operates more than 650 retail locations and is the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America.