Trump-backed Freedom Fuel chain faces lawsuit over $4 million unpaid gas bill

A fuel supplier has sued a company that purchased gasoline for Freedom Fuel Network, alleging it failed to pay about $4 million for fuel delivered to the discount gas station chain in July.Freedom Fuel had drawn attention after US President Donald Trump praised the chain in July for selling gasoline at significantly lower prices than competing stations in the Philadelphia area. Trump said the company was “taking the lead, and others should follow” in a Truth Social post.The lawsuit was filed on August 19 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville, Georgia. It alleges that KRSM, the company that purchased the fuel for Freedom Fuel, has not paid for gasoline deliveries made to at least 10 Freedom Fuel stations.According to Mansfield Oil’s attorney, Urs Broderick Furrer, at least 1.12 million gallons of gasoline were delivered to the stations. “Despite the fact that the last delivery was more than five weeks ago, KRSM has not paid one dollar towards the $4,000,000 that KRSM owes Mansfield,” Furrer told CNN in an email.The lawsuit names KRSM and its president, Syed Kazmi, as defendants but does not name Freedom Fuel Network. The suit describes KRSM as a foreign corporation with its principal business address in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.KRSM’s attorney, Mauro Tucci, disputed the allegations and said the company intends to contest the case. He described it as “an accounting dispute over fuel invoices mis-priced by Mansfield Oil.”Freedom Fuel drew attention in July after its stations began selling gasoline for about $3.48 a gallon around the July 4 holiday weekend, compared with a Pennsylvania average of $3.99 at the time. The chain had 25 rebranded stations then and has since added four more, according to its website.Trump also said in his July 1 post that gas prices would return to the record-low levels Americans had seen before the US military operation in Iran. However, the national average remained at $4.08 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA, while Pennsylvania's average stood at $4.22.Freedom Fuel’s prices have also risen, with several stations in the Philadelphia suburbs listed by GasBuddy at about $3.99 a gallon.The White House has denied any connection between the Trump administration and Freedom Fuel, describing it as “a private company with no government support or subsidies”.“The administration is not involved in the company, nor has the administration given the company any funding. There is no other entity or person subsidizing the lower gasoline costs,” a White House spokesperson told CNN. “They are simply reducing their margin to make prices at the pump more affordable for drivers in Philadelphia and New Jersey.”Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.