Latest Pilot Flying J Suit Includes Minority Partner

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A new lawsuit filed against Pilot Flying J is the first to include minority stakeholder CVC Capital Partners, a London-based private equity and investment advisory firm, as a defendant, according to a report by The Tennesseean.

Filed as a class-action suit, it charges that Pilot Flying J and its top officials engaged in racketeering and mail fraud by depriving truckers of earned fuel rebates.

Markham, Ill.-based trucking firm Arka Logistics filed a suit in a U.S. District Court in Chicago that claims Pilot "repeatedly, systematically, unlawfully, intentionally and fraudulently" reduced the promised rebates. Executives named as defendants include CEO Jimmy Haslam, President Mark Hazelwood, Chief Financial Officer Mitch Steenrod and Vice President of Sales John Freeman according to the report.

The lawsuit cites a 120-page affidavit filed by an FBI agent following the April 15 raid the FBI and IRS carried out on Pilot's Knoxville headquarters, as do other complaints filed in state and federal courts. The lawsuits are expected to be consolidated in one federal court by a judicial panel later this month.

Haslam has promised to reimburse truckers for shorted rebates and denied knowledge of scheme, to which multiple employees pleaded guilty in June.