‘Wasn’t my fault,’ boss of fallen Arrow claims

TULSA, Okla. — Two months after Arrow Trucking slammed its doors leaving hundreds of drivers stranded across North America and about 1,300 people jobless, the owner of the company has come forward to tell his side of the story.

And, says Arrow’s former president Doug Pielsticker his hands are clean.

According to local media, he blames Arrow’s former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jonathan Moore. And a bank.

This is the first time anybody has heard from the Arrow brass since the company shut down a few days before Christmas, at which time its executives went to ground.

But in January, the Transportation Alliance Bank, a former Arrow creditor, sued the company, alleging that Arrow brass used wire-fraud, double invoices and other shenanigans to secure $12.5 million from the bank.

The bank wants its money back.

Also, it claims Arrow failed to pay $9 million in payroll taxes. This week, Pielsticker responded with a 78-page counterclaim, and it’s there that he strikes back.

For one thing, he says, it was the bank that canceled Arrow’s fuel cards Dec. 21, essentially shutting down his operation and stranding the truck drivers.

Secondly, Pielsticker says if the bank suspected former CFO Moore of fraudulent activities, neither Moore nor the bank informed him of the allegations. The bank knew of Moore’s alleged fraud but continued to do business with Arrow anyway, he says.

Pielsticker recalls a conversation he says he had with Moore. It went thusly:

Pielsticker: "So you’re comfortable that what we’re doing [with tax payments] is completely legal?"

Moore: "Yes, yes I do think it’s legal. I’ll say that."

Pielsticker says he asked again and Moore replied: "…I feel absolutely confident in this…"

Also, Pielsticker maintains he didn’t know that the company was in such desperate financial straits before the December shut-down.

A number of  lawsuits have been filed against the company, including a class action suit by Philadelphia firm of Klehr Harrison Harvey Bransburg LLP, on behalf of Arrow’s former employees.