Federal authorities announced Monday that Pilot Flying J will pay a $92 million penalty and fully cooperate with an ongoing investigation to resolve the company’s criminal liability for fraudulent conduct by employees in deceptively withholding diesel fuel price discounts from hundreds of customers.

Also known as Pilot Travel Centers LLC, Pilot has accepted legal responsibility for the criminal conduct of its employees, which caused more than $56 million in loss to its customers, and agreed to pay full restitution to every victim of the fraud, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a Monday afternoon press release.

Pilot further acknowledged the gravity of its employees’ criminal wrongdoing by agreeing to pay the United States the $92 million monetary penalty—an amount within the fine range recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the press release said.

“The agreement also expressly states that it provides no protection from prosecution to any individual, and moreover, imposes a continuing obligation on Pilot to provide complete cooperation with the ongoing federal investigation of current and former Pilot employees relating to fraudulent conduct involving the sale of diesel fuel,” the release said.

Pilot must also periodically report to the United States what it has done to ensure that a system of internal accounting controls and other compliance procedures have been established to prevent fraudulent conduct from occurring again in the sale of diesel fuel. In the event Pilot materially breaches its obligations under the Criminal Enforcement Agreement, Pilot has agreed that the United States may file the criminal information, attached to the agreement, and will not contest the allegations in that charging document. [Read more…]