President Donald Trump and his White House have enthusiastically promoted the Freedom Fuel Network, a chain of star-spangled convenience stores selling gas at $3.47 per gallon in honor of the 47th president.
Untangling exactly who is behind the Philadelphia-area venture has proven difficult. Records indicate the chain, which was launched last month, is run by a disparate collection of businessmen that includes an NFL kicking coach, a GOP fundraiser and a New Jersey entrepreneur who this year was ordered, along with his brother, to pay civil damages for unlawfully taking more than 200,000 gallons of fuel.
How the stations got Trump’s attention remains a mystery, and the four businessmen declined to — or could not be reached for — comment.
What is clear: Trump loved the idea of cheaper gas. The president celebrated the network’s gas prices just before the busy July 4th travel period as consumers were grappling with higher oil prices sparked by the war with Iran.
“I am pleased to announce that a VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast, is stepping up,” Trump wrote about the company on his Truth Social platform on July 1. “America has never been stronger than it is now, and Gas Prices will soon be back to the Record Low Prices Americans enjoyed at the pump before our very successful ‘excursion’ in Iran.”
The White House followed up with a post on X a few days later that heralded the opening of the first Freedom Fuel station and produced a video showing patrons waving wads of cash and thanking Trump for reducing the prices outside a store festooned with American flags and a golden eagle logo.
That station, located in Dresher, Pennsylvania, is owned by a subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital, an investment firm, records show. Trump has owned up to $25 million worth of Blue Owl stock, though his most recent financial disclosure says he has sold almost all of that stake.
The White House denied Trump had any personal connection to the venture, but declined to say how the project was developed. It acknowledged having discussions with individuals who set up the network of gas stations.
“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,” the White House wrote in a statement.
Blue Owl owns about a third of the Freedom Fuel properties, though the company said it leases the stores to independent contractors and “is not involved in the tenant’s operations or business decisions.”
Fourteen stations in the 25-location network are controlled by companies linked to Shamikh and Syed Kazmi, two brothers who have been dogged by a string of civil misconduct accusations, including fraud, records show.
Shamikh Kazmi is leasing eight of those stations from Blue Owl, according to state records and people familiar with the businesses who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The Associated Press was able to link the brothers to six other Freedom Network locations through records that show they listed those stations’ addresses as headquarters for other ventures or supplied those locations with fuel.
A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the project, said that no one at the White House who was in conversations with Freedom Fuel Network had specifically spoken or worked with Syed Kazmi, a claim that indicates discussions occurred with the other brother, Shamikh.
The Kazmis have marketed themselves as “top tier” petroleum distributors and gas station operators, with over 75 years of experience and a deep well of corporate affiliations, according to an archived version of the website for one of their companies.
Public records offer a more nuanced portrait, showing the Kazmis have been repeatedly sued by companies they had dealings with.
The brothers have legal issues
Legal filings detail a series of judgments against the Kazmis, who failed to comply with a court order and have been accused of obscuring their finances and dodging service processors as a growing list of former suppliers and franchisors sought payment.
In February, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered the Kazmis to pay over $600,000 to a fuel supplier that accused the brothers of stealing gas. The supplier alleged in court filings that it cut the brothers off after they refused to sign a new contract. But the Kazmis exploited a security lapse and gained access to the supplier’s fuel depot. Over a ten-day period in August 2021, tanker trucks absconded with more than 230,000 gallons of fuel, according to the supplier’s court filings. A judge ruled in the supplier’s favor, finding the brothers unlawfully took the gas.
The fuel supplier says it has yet to receive payment.
Syed Kazmi was hit with a $380,000 judgment two years ago in a suit brought by 7-Eleven, the convenience chain, which accused him of “dishonest, unethical, immoral” conduct while operating a franchise in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, that was flagged for unsanitary conditions that included trash issues and a rodent infestation. The company also said “tens of thousands of dollars” of cigarettes ordered from 7-Eleven on credit had gone missing.
A federal judge held a company operated by Shamikh Kazmi in contempt in 2022 in a trademark case brought by BP America.
Though BP had severed ties with Kazmi’s Diwan Petrol two years prior to the legal action, the corporation’s signage had not been removed from the gas station despite a court order to do so. The judge authorized U.S. Marshals to accompany BP workers to remove it.
A man who answered a call to a number listed for the Kazmi brothers said he was not the right person to talk to and instead directed inquiries to the Freedom Fuel Network’s website. But that website has no contact information, phone number or mailing address. A request for comment submitted through an online contact form was not answered.
Company formed in a state known for opacity
Records from Delaware, a state known for offering incorporators a large degree of opacity, show the Freedom Fuel Network was registered on June 23. The document forming the company was signed by Randy Brown and Yoni Gontownik.
Politico and the website The Newsground reported that Brown is a senior special teams coach with the Baltimore Ravens. He has also served as the elected mayor of Evesham Township, a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia, where a Freedom Fuel Network station is located.
Brown, a Republican, considered a run for Congress in 2021, telling a local newspaper he was a conservative and a “proud Trump supporter.”
Gontownik is a former investment director at Mercuria, a Swiss-owned commodities trading firm. He and his wife live in northern New Jersey and have been active with the pro-Israel political action committee NORPAC, including hosting fundraisers for Republican members of Congress.
Gontownik and Brown did not respond to requests for comment.
Experts say gas likely sold for a loss
Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said Freedom Fuel’s rock bottom promotional price meant the chain was likely selling the gas at a loss.
“It’s not unusual for retailers to have prices that are different than a market when they’re looking to make a splash,” said Lenard, whose association’s members account for most U.S. retail fuel sales, adding that such a splash typically lasts “a matter of hours or a matter of days.”
Social media posts and gas-price checking websites show that the per-gallon rate advertised at Freedom Fuel locations began creeping up this week.
A Freedom Fuel station in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, for example, on Thursday was selling regular gasoline for $3.82 a gallon. That was 27 cents cheaper than at a Sunoco station across the street.
The Freedom Fuel Network posted a note of thanks to its website this week, crediting Trump’s “strong endorsement” for the “explosive growth” of their business.
“Despite the misinformation and baseless speculation circulating,” the statement reads, “let us set the record straight: Freedom Fuel Network is proudly lowering its prices to benefit our community.”
