Louisiana executive accused of white collar crime

Many Louisiana readers are familiar with the company Knight Oil Tools, which has been in business since 1972. The company provides rental and fishing tools to customers around the world. Knight Oil Tools has been in the news recently over allegations that one of the company’s executives hired several men to plant drugs in the vehicle of another executive, who also happens to be the man’s brother. He now stands accused of the white collar crime of racketeering, and was recently arrested and booked.

Authorities claim that the executive paid three men a total of $100,000 in cash and various items. One of the men was an employee at Knight Oil, who is believed to have planted drugs in the brother’s car by way of a magnetic box. The other two men were police officers, and were involved in the brother’s arrest.

The brother was booked on drug charges last year. After receiving a tip, police began to investigate the matter in more depth, and questioned the Knight Oil employee. That man admitted plating the drugs in the vehicle, and allegedly told police that he was hired by the man’s brother to do so. He is charged with criminal conspiracy, possession of methadone, Lortab and cocaine, intimidating a witness and extortion. The two police officers who were involved in the drug arrest are charged with racketeering.

As this white collar crime case moves forward, more information may be made available. In cases in which one individual provides police with information on another, that information is not always reliable. In this case, if the Louisiana employee did in fact plant drugs in the Knight Oil executive’s vehicle, he may be eager to find a way to bargain for the reduction of the charges against him. While there is no way to determine if that is the case, it remains a possibility.

Source: theadvertiser.com, “Authorities: Knight chairman paid to have drugs planted; ‘whereabouts unknown’“, April 15, 2015