Fifty dollars here, $30 there... with fuel prices on the rise, those kinds of double-digit charges seemed like normal business expenses when they showed up on one wholesaler's fleet fuel card. But after more than $15,000 in unaccounted for gas charges appeared on the account in late June, Mike Ulrich, owner of B W Wholesale in Pittsburgh, knew something was wrong.

Ulrich, who usually pays about $45,000 in fuel charges a month for his 17-vehicle fleet, immediately decided to file a police report about the suspicious charges. After he left the police station, however, Ulrich spotted Thomas Jones, an ex-employee, at the gas station where the fraudulent charges had been made.

"I called the police but they wouldn't be able to get there in time, so I followed [Jones]," Ulrich says.

After a few miles, Ulrich caught up with Jones, confronted him, and asked him to accompany Ulrich to the police station. Jones complied and was arrested. A trial is pending.

Ulrich believes that for at least six months Jones was filling other people's vehicles at a discount while using a card he must have taken sometime after being fired last year.  The fraudulent transactions, dating from January 2008, amount to more than $40,000, only $10,000 of which is covered by B W Wholesale's business insurance. The remaining charges are being negotiated with Pacific Pride Services, the company that issues the fuel cards, Ulrich says.

"We're still using Pacific Pride cards," Ulrich says, "But now instead of monthly statements, we're receiving daily statements, which we check every day."

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

  

Previous Article    Next Article