Lawsuit: Oil company cheated Madison-based gas station owner
A Portage oil wholesaler overcharged and sold misbranded gasoline to a Madison-based gas retailer, according to a $2 million lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Madison.
The suit alleged that:
Crawford Oil Company and its owner, James H. Crawford, systematically overcharged Supreme Holdings, LLC, 2801 University Ave., and its owner, Saieed Kabir of Madison, for gasoline that Crawford delivered to Supreme Holdings' gas stations in Portage, Cascade, Wis., and elsewhere.
Crawford charged more than the contracted price through electronic fund transfers that prevented Supreme Holdings from immediately learning the actual price it was being charged.
Crawford also delivered nonbranded gasoline to Supreme Holdings' stations when their agreement called for delivery of only British Petroleum products.
The suit didn't specify when the alleged overcharged and misbranded gas deliveries occurred, but alleged that they were a continuous activity, "not isolated or unrelated," as required by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
A call to James Crawford for comment on the allegations wasn't returned Monday. Supreme Holdings' attorney Richard Bolton also didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
The suit seeks unspecified actual damages for the alleged RICO violations and punitive damages of $2 million.
Although originally enacted to counter organized crime, a civil section of the RICO statute allows individuals to bring a suit against a business claiming they were injured due to a RICO violation. Including wire and mail fraud under the RICO act greatly broadened its application as did allowing the successful party to collect three times its actual damages plus attorney fees, according to Jeff Grell, an attorney who posted RICO information on his Web site.
