A decade ago, Brown’s owner Jimmy Haslam avoided prosecution as part of a wide-ranging investigation (which has repeatedly hit pay) into his truck stop company’s habit of shorting customers. Now, Hassan is likely to be in an awkward position again.
As originally reported by Bloomberg.com, federal prosecutors in New York City They investigate Whether Haslam offered payments to Pilot executives in order to boost the value of the remaining 20 percent of the company to be purchased by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway remains unclear.
The investigation, according to the report, was first revealed at a court hearing related to a civil lawsuit aimed at determining the value of what remains of Pilot. The more valuable it is, the more Buffett will pay. The less it is worth, the less Hassan’s family will get.
At a recent hearing, Hassan’s lawyers attacked the bribery allegations, which were made in the final stages of a fast-paced process to resolve the question of the pilot’s value.
“It was a retaliatory action, not something they did quickly, as one would expect in a rushed case like this,” the pilot’s attorney, Brad Wilson, said during the hearing, according to the transcript. (In English, “If it helps them, why did they wait so long to bring it up?”)
Wilson added, “These allegations are baseless, as we have said before.” “It is an invention by the defendants, who have . . . no compelling response to a valid contract claim. If Berkshire chooses to pursue these claims after these expedited proceedings conclude, Pilot will expose them. But that’s all for another day.”
Many issues can be for another day. Whether prosecutors have found any evidence of bribery by Hasan is one of those issues. Whether Berkshire is simply throwing crap at the wall to distract from the real issues is another matter.
Whether Hassan has any legal rights against Berkshire for potentially creating a false case is another matter. As a former prominent New York City politician recently learned, much to his nine-figure chagrin, Lies have very real consequences.
