A lawsuit filed this month alleges that Freedom Fuel Network stations promoted by President Donald Trump were able to offer discounted gasoline because millions of dollars worth of fuel was never paid for.
Georgia-based fuel supplier Mansfield Oil Co. filed the complaint on August 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, targeting a company called KRSM.
According to the complaint, KRSM acquired over 1 million gallons of fuel from a Sunoco terminal in Twin Oaks valued at around $4 million and never paid for it.
The lawsuit alleges that KRSM then sold some of that stolen fuel to stations operating under the Freedom Fuel Network banner across the Philadelphia and New Jersey areas.
As the complaint stated directly: “KRSM was able to sell such fuel for such low prices and garner such publicity because it never paid Plaintiffs for such fuel.”
Freedom Fuel stations burst into public view ahead of the July Fourth holiday, when Trump posted praise for their discounted pump prices, writing “They are doing this because they love the U.S.A.”
The White House later posted a video of drivers filling up at one of the stations and thanking Trump for the low prices, which were set at $3.47 a gallon in honor of the 47th president.
The White House told reporters Freedom Fuel was simply a private company lowering its margins for patriotic reasons and declined to identify the people behind the network.
Those owners were later identified as a former New Jersey mayor and an NFL special teams coach for the Baltimore Ravens, described as a Republican donor.
KRSM disputed the allegations in an emailed statement, calling the case “an accounting dispute over fuel invoices misplaced by Mansfield Oil” and saying it would not comment further on the pending litigation.
Mansfield attorney Urs Broderick Furrer pushed back firmly on that characterization, stating: “KRSM has failed to pay for fuel that they lifted off of Mansfield’s account. That is not an accounting dispute.”
Furrer added that the fuel in question was delivered to at least 10 Freedom Fuel locations, broadening the potential scope of the alleged misconduct.
The lawsuit is the latest in a long string of legal claims against KRSM president Syed Kazmi and his brother Shamikh Kazmi, who have been sued more than a dozen times for alleged financial misconduct including fraud and unpaid debts.
In several prior cases, the brothers drew default judgments after failing to respond to the charges, and in 2021 Shamikh Kazmi was accused of stealing more than $667,000 worth of fuel over just 10 days from a supplier.
The suit does not name the Freedom Fuel Network or its individual stations as defendants and does not accuse them of wrongdoing, focusing instead on KRSM’s alleged conduct.
The White House has stated it has had “zero contact” with KRSM or its president, Syed Kazmi, since the controversy emerged.
Since the July Fourth holiday, prices at Freedom Fuel stations have risen but remained below competitors, and the network has expanded from 25 to 29 locations by adding four additional stations.
The Freedom Fuel Network’s website maintained that despite “misinformation and baseless speculation,” the network is “proudly lowering prices to benefit our community and strengthen our local economy.”
