Hudson, N.C., Store Shut Down Owner sought for cheating supplier Burke Oil by altering pump meters
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HUDSON, N.C. -- The doors to the Hudson Superette gas station and sandwich shop have been locked following a changing of the building's locks because the owner of the business has left the area after an investigation for fraud was launched by Hudson Police Department, reported The News-Topic. The business has been closed since August 13 after North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDOA) inspectors determined that the flow of gasoline going through the pumps was altered.
Hudson Police Chief David Greene said that revelation prompted Connelly Springs, N.C.-based Burke Oil Co., which owns the building and supplies gasoline to the store at the corner of Main Street and Cedar Valley Road, to shut down the business.
HPD detectives are investigating the owner of the business, Jenny Li, 38, for obtaining property by false pretenses, said the report.
Greene said the investigation began after the NCDOA inspectors determined that the gasoline pump meters had been manipulated to misread the amount of fuel flowing through them. As a result, the full amount of fuel that Burke Oil had been supplying to Hudson Superette was not being paid for by Li, he alleged.
Greene added that the misappropriation concerns approximately 30,000 gallons of gasoline. The investigation so far has revealed that Burke Oil supplied that amount of gasoline to Li, but she only paid for a portion of it based on the altered pump readings, said the report.
"They were giving her gas on consignment and would get their money after the gas was sold," Greene told the newspaper. "There was a red flag that went up when [Burke Oil] found out what they had supplied and what she paid for. Burke Oil was being cheated."
Greene indicated that Li is no longer in the area. "When she found out about [the investigation], she left the area," he said. "She has left, and at last report she was in New York."
He said Li's personal information is being entered into national crime computers, but he noted that the name she has given may be fictitious.
Greene said customers who have purchased gasoline at the store should not think they were cheated. He said there is nothing to indicate that they did not receive the amount of gasoline they paid for. "People were not being cheated; Burke Oil is the only victim as far as we can tell," he said. "Consumers still received the amount of gas they paid for."
Representatives for Burke Oil would not comment on the matter when contacted by the News-Topic.
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Greene said the investigation began after the NCDOA inspectors determined that the gasoline pump meters had been manipulated to misread the amount of fuel flowing through them. As a result, the full amount of fuel that Burke Oil had been supplying to Hudson Superette was not being paid for by Li, he alleged.