Freedom Fuel Network attracted plenty of attention when its gas stations appeared in Pennsylvania and New Jersey this summer. With fuel prices that significantly undercut nearby competitors, the attraction was obvious.
The network initially sold regular gasoline for $3.47 per gallon, around 40 cents below prevailing prices at the time. That naturally raised questions about how a newly formed operation could afford to sell fuel so cheaply.
Now, a lawsuit detailed by MDM Distribution Intelligence and The New York Times has introduced a dramatic allegation into the story. Fuel supplier Mansfield Oil Company claims another distributor took nearly $4 million worth of its gasoline without paying.
Some of that fuel, Mansfield alleges, subsequently made its way to Freedom Fuel locations. The company accused of failing to pay strongly disputes Mansfield’s version of events, meaning the claims are still allegations rather than established facts.
Mansfield Says $4 Million Of Fuel Went Unpaid
ABC27 also reported on the lawsuit and the allegations surrounding Freedom Fuel, providing a closer look at the stations caught up in the dispute.
Mansfield Oil filed its lawsuit on August 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against KRSM Inc. and company president Syed Kazmi.
According to Mansfield, KRSM obtained approximately 150 loads of gasoline from Mansfield’s account at Pennsylvania’s Twin Oaks terminal between May 21 and July 7. Those deliveries allegedly totaled roughly 1.12 million gallons valued at nearly $4 million.
Mansfield claims carrier records indicate several hundred thousand gallons were eventually delivered to at least 10 stations participating in the Freedom Fuel Network. Its lawsuit alleges KRSM resold the gasoline without first paying Mansfield for it.
Mansfield is seeking at least $3.998 million, plus interest, costs, and other damages. On August 28, U.S. District Judge Gerald Austin McHugh ordered KRSM and Kazmi to maintain at least $2.75 million in a bank account while the litigation continues.
KRSM Says It’s An Invoice Dispute
KRSM disputes Mansfield’s allegations. Kazmi said in an August 25 court declaration that he disagreed with the amount Mansfield claimed his company owed.
KRSM’s attorney has characterized the case as an accounting dispute involving fuel invoices that it says Mansfield mispriced. Mansfield has acknowledged that a data-receiving error delayed its invoices until early July, although the supplier says subsequent revisions only addressed minor pricing discrepancies.
The lawsuit therefore hasn’t established that Freedom Fuel itself knowingly purchased improperly obtained gasoline. The central dispute concerns whether KRSM owes Mansfield for the fuel and what happened to the gasoline after it left the terminal.
Freedom Fuel Quickly Attracted National Attention
Freedom Fuel emerged around Philadelphia in early July after President Donald Trump publicly called on gasoline retailers to lower prices. Trump praised the network, while the White House also highlighted its launch.
Despite that attention, reporting cited by MDM says the administration does not own, operate, or subsidize Freedom Fuel. The network described itself as privately owned and initially operated 25 locations before expanding to 29.
Those unusually low introductory prices helped Freedom Fuel generate headlines almost immediately. Its prices have since moved closer to the general market, while the legal battle over some of the gasoline allegedly supplied to its stations is only beginning.
For now, the eye-catching claim that Freedom Fuel stations were selling “stolen” gasoline remains exactly that: allegations in an active lawsuit.