Freedom Fuel network opens gas station in Detroit amid supplier lawsuit
The Freedom Fuel Network chain of gas stations has opened its first location outside New Jersey and Pennsylvania — in Detroit. At the station on Harper Avenue, a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $3.47, the lowest price in Michigan, CNBC reports.
According to GasBuddy, the average gasoline price in Michigan was $4.09 per gallon. The chain has 29 locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the same time, GasBuddy data indicate that Freedom Fuel stations are no longer the cheapest in those two states.
Fuel supplier lawsuit
The network's expansion is taking place amid consideration in a federal court in Philadelphia of a lawsuit by Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville, Georgia. The supplier claims that businessman Syed Kazmi and his company KRSM are not complying with an August 28 court order to maintain at least $2.75 million in a checking account at M&T Bank.
In a new court filing, Mansfield Oil said that the account is short by about $2.25 million. The company also said it learned from M&T Bank that the account which KRSM had described as its own now belongs to another Kazmi-affiliated entity called Universal. Mansfield Oil said this raises concerns about a possible transfer of funds out of the account.
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Dispute over invoices
The Mansfield Oil lawsuit, filed on August 19, alleges that KRSM received more than 1.1 million gallons of fuel from a terminal in Pennsylvania between May and July. According to the plaintiff, after it issued an invoice in July for about $4 million, KRSM did not make payment.
Mansfield Oil claims that at least part of this fuel was sold to Freedom Fuel stations that began operating in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in early July. Freedom Fuel is not a defendant in the case. KRSM attorney Mauro Tucci told CNBC on August 30 that the company disputes the lawsuit's allegations and considers the case a dispute over fuel invoices in which, according to KRSM's position, Mansfield Oil incorrectly calculated prices.
Freedom Fuel announced the opening of the Detroit station on its website, explaining the expansion by the network's success and savings for consumers. President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Freedom Fuel's lower prices on July 1 and urged other fuel retailers to follow its example.
