Pilot Oil and Flying J Headquarters in Knoxville.Pilot Flying J has dealt with more than a week of public scrutiny after the FBI raided the company's Knoxville headquarters in an investigation of rebate fraud. Affidavits claim some Pilot employees short-changed "unsophisticated" trucking companies that receive "manual" rebates for fuel purchases.
The alleged manual rebate scheme also directly involve race, WBIR-TV in Knoxville reported Tuesday. The transcripts of secretly recorded conversations with Pilot sales managers indicate a perceived vulnerability among businesses owned by Hispanics in South Florida.
The nicknames for the alleged manual rebate fraud scheme also include variations of "Manual" to become a Hispanic name pronounced "Manuel" or "Manwell."
The transcripts quote Pilot's director of sales for the east region, Kevin Hanscomb, as saying, "They're not stupid, there is a language barrier. So you can get away with a little bit more because they know that they are not going to understand everything that you say."
Read more at The Tennessean.