FBI+IRS Shutdown TN Gov Haslam's Family Business (Pilot + Flying J)

Gov. Bill Haslam's brother, whom is the owner of the Cleveland Browns, is apparently part of the ordeal as well, if not the center of it. Jimmy Haslam is the Brown's owner and currently CEO of Pilot Flying J.

To those that don't know, The Haslam's own the Pilot and Flying J truck stops that are prevalent in this part of the country.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents on Monday locked down the headquarters of Pilot Flying J, the truck stop business owned by the family of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and his brother, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. FBI spokesman Marshall Stone told The Associated Press that the move was part of an ongoing investigation, but he would not provide additional details. FBI and IRS agents were expected to remain in the building into the evening, he said.

www.wsmv.com...

The corporation, whose Lonas Road-headquarters was locked down by the FBI this afternoon, started with a series of gas stations founded by Jim Haslam in the late 1950s and became one of the largest private companies in the country.

www.knoxnews.com...

Agents from the FBI and Knoxville Police Officers are at Pilot Flying J Headquarters off Lonas Drive in West Knoxville.

www.tennessean.com...

Wonder what the Haslam boys have been up to this time?




Forbes lists Pilot Flying J as the 6th largest private company in America. It's network of gas stations is the largest in North America. Company revenue was $29.23 Billion with a B in November 2012.
www.forbes.com...
(And source from first link at top)

reply to post by Heliophant


Good catch.

I head just over the WV/VA border to hit up Flying J because their gas is at least .10-.30 cheaper a gallon than anything near me.

Wonder how much they 'owe' The Man?

- Fim

reply to post by Heliophant


I live in the Greater Knoxville area and, suprisingly, this hasn't been huge news locally. The Haslam's have ties to many different people and organizations, I can't imagine anything will stick to these fellows. It would be nice to see any wrong-doing brought to light, requiring them to be accountable.

It hasn't been long since he bought his stake in the Browns... he only had to pay $1Billion dollars.

They have serious connections with the University of Tennessee, which makes me wonder if UT is somehow involved. I know UT's athletic department is experiencing a nasty deficit and Haslam, well, Haslam is experiencing a fantasyland lifestyle that would make Scrooge McDuck envious.

Maybe there are some 'undocumented' (such a terrible word to see used when talking about mega financing of a private corp., a state institution, and the IRS) transactions between Haslams' Pilot chain and individuals at the University of Tennessee?

EDITED:

I talked to my brother and he mentioned the words 'price gouging' and 'price fixing' for what it's worth. Not much more info yet, as this is a developing situations.

"Wonder what the Haslam boys have been up to this time"
living in these days of hope, change, printing presses and DHS, having something they want, or just mentioning the emperor has no clothes, suffice
don't believe a word until there is an investigation and you hear all sides of the story.

reply to post by esteay812


Manipulating the local market prices, yes. They undercut everyone out here, including the amazing awesome and best gas station ever: Sheetz. Like I said, I'd drive an extra 10 miles to go fill up my tank at FJ in the dead of summer because it is literally that much cheaper overall than going to any local competitor.

The plot thickens..

Still can't find any updates to this story. Might be a day or two before the FBI decides to say something.

I do love Sheetz!

Originally posted by Heliophant
I do love Sheetz!

edit on 15-4-2013 by Heliophant because: (no reason given)

Win. What do you call Sheetz near a Flying J? Bi-winning!

Fim

reply to post by Fimbulvetr


I do like the FLying Js and Pilots... except that I know I'm funding Haslam & Co. everytime I go there. Really don't care much for Bill's administration. They even got a Federal Restraining Order a year or two ago during the Occupy Nashville protest. There was even a local judge that denied arrests to the State Troopers acting on Haslam's orders - twice.

reply to post by Heliophant


The more you know..

Dang! I hadn't realized there was such scumbaggery afoot with the cheap gasoline at the truckstop. Duly noted and thanks for this thread!

reply to post by Fimbulvetr

In all fairness, Bill & Crew have done a few good things while in office in Nashville. But there are a few absolutely asinine decisions made within his administration that cancels them out, IMHO.

I do get a scummy vibe from his demeanor and handling of political situations. But since it would be unfair of me to attack his personal character, having no personal experience with him at all, I'll just stick to criticizing his administration.

Besides, I'm kinda derailing my own thread. lol! This is supposed to be a discussion about the Alphabet Soups pouring into the Pilot Flying J headquarters. Was easy to get off on a tangent.

reply to post by Heliophant


Between all the 'power relationships' the Haslams are a part of, it must have been widespread and blatant to warrant a very public lockdown of the home office.

Haslam as Gov. has many political connections, plus UTK connections, and even more connections to TVA and another local business owner, who also likes to stick his hand in the political stew, Bill Baxter of Holston Gases.

Those are just a couple veins of their reach, off the top of my head. I know there are dozens more. That's why I feel like this must be very big or they've walked on someone who has longer arms or some serious blackmail powers.

Either way, I only hope they will be treated the same way you or I would be treated if we were suspect of similar things.

If I had to hazard a guess since the IRS is involved, I would go with price fixing/gouging. Remember 4/5 years ago when gas prices hit $5/gal or so here in knoxville? There was a lot of stink about Pilot at the time. I did find it odd that the FBI had to escort the IRS on site. Also heard on 98.7 that the swat team was there and that they bypassed the need for a warrant. Dunno if somebody was just talking out of their butt or not.

reply to post by Heliophant


The IRS doesn't play no matter who you are!

reply to post by Heliophant

2:45 pm update: In his press conference, Haslam confirmed that this is a criminal investigation. He said a small group of trucking companies believe they weren’t paid rebates they were owed by Pilot. (Such rebates center on trucking companies agreeing to purchase a certain amount of fuel.) Haslam denied that claim, but said the company has already begun an internal investigation that will be “quick and thorough.”

Haslam also indicated that he doesn’t know why the IRS was involved in executing the warrants and asserted that there is no indication the company has failed to pay any state or federal taxes

The federal government are not confident the state of TN could handle this probe - so they bypassed TN officials and brought in outsiders to handle it - FBI/IRS.

According to an unnamed employee who talked to the Knoxville News Sentinel, agents seemed particularly focused on IT, accounting, and customer service offices. The employee said, “Certain people in certain departments were asked to stay. Mostly people who collect data.”

This tells me the Feds are confident that Flying J is hiding something on a huge scale - I'm going for tax evasion with the DoJ joining the show soon.

Source: www.forbes.com...

Originally posted by Jason88
The federal government are not confident the state of TN could handle this probe - so they bypassed TN officials and brought in outsiders to handle it - FBI/IRS.

I guess that only makes sense, considering that the CEO's brother is governor of the state and also has a stake in the company. Thanks for the update, I guess we'll see where this goes..