KINGSLAND, Ga. - Authorities in Missouri have issued an arrest warrant for a man named in the ongoing investigation of two Camden County, Ga., truckstops suspected of shorting customers on fuel purchases, reported The Florida Union-Times.
Kuldeep S. Sekhon failed to appear for a drug trafficking and distribution trial scheduled Monday in Cape Girardeau, Mo. An arrest warrant was issued after he failed to appear in U.S. District Court there, court officials said. Camden County prosecutors named Sekhon as a defendant in a civil racketeering complaint filed last week against the past and [image-nocss] present owners of Cisco Travel Plazas, said the report.
As reported in CSP Daily News, State Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin ordered the stations closed February 12 when inspectors discovered customers were shorted about one quart of fuel for every five gallons the pumps said were dispensed.
The business licenses at the stations list Sekhon as the owner, but public records cited by the newspaper indicate he sold the business in December 2006 to United Fuel Inc., Franklin, Ky. The suit asserts that racketeering practices were begun at the truckstops in 2000.
The two stations reopened February 27 after the new owners agreed to pay a $500,000 fine. If there are no problems for the next two years, the state will waive $250,000 of the fine, according to the agreement.
Sekhon is accused of selling pseudoephedrine pills that likely "would be used to manufacture methamphetamine," according to a federal indictment cited by the Union-Times. Some of the drugs were allegedly sold at a gas station that Sekhon owned in Cape Girardeau, said the report.
Last week, a superior court judge froze the assets of 24 individuals and businesses associated with the two Camden truckstops, added a report by The Camden County Tribune.
Chief Judge James R. Tuten ordered a court-appointed receiver to take control and possession of the assets of Fairley Cisco, Cisco Travel Plaza Inc., Cisco Travel Plaza II Inc., Cisco Oil Inc., Cisco Express Inc., Cisco Enterprises Inc., Althea Cisco Moore, Tammy Cisco Walker, Winfield Cisco, Charles McConnell, Poor Boy's Oil Co. Inc., Robert M. Clark, Alana McQuarry, Sheri Robbins, United Fuel Inc., Kuldeep S. Sekhon, Kingsland Management LLC, Kingsland Management II LLC, Jack Ghazi, Georgia Petro USA LLC, Georgia Petro II LLC, Georgia Energy USA LLC, Biju Abraham and Kushal Yekundi, said the report. The 24 individuals and businesses listed have been involved in owning or managing the two truckstops at some point since 2000.
District Attorney Stephen Kelley listed the 24 defendants in a racketeering charge filed March 4 at the Camden County Courthouse. According to the court records obtained by the newspaper, the racketeering charge accuses the defendants of displaying a "pattern of racketeering activity" over the last eight years. The pattern of racketeering includes altering fuel pumps to indicate that customers were receiving a larger quantity of fuel than was actually dispensed.
Tuten ordered Atlanta-based attorney Michael Lambros to take immediate control and possession of the defendants' assets, including the two truckstops and another gas station in Camden County. Kelley said the investigation is still ongoing. A court hearing must be held within 30 days in order for the defendants to seek dismissal of the court order, according to Georgia law, the report said.
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