Court-appointed receiver now controls Torco Racing Fuels
by By Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette
Tuesday September 09, 2008, 2:00 PM
Mark Bugnaski | Kalamazoo Gazette file
Evan KnollPAW PAW -- A court-appointed receiver now controls Evan W. Knoll's racing-fuel business after a creditor's claims that the firm is "presently insolvent" and "seems to be unraveling at its seams."
Receiver Robert Seely, of Kalamazoo, is soliciting proposals for the sale of all or parts of the Decatur-based business enterprise that a year ago had catapulted Knoll to be a national finalist for Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award and sponsor numerous national drag-racing teams.
Court records also shed some light on what may have prompted federal agents to conduct a raid in August at Knoll's business headquarters, which includes Torco Racing Fuels, and his Decatur home, seizing financial records.
According to Van Buren County Circuit Court records, Knoll owes at least $15 million to Chemical Bank of Michigan, $1 million in unpaid corporate income and employment taxes and could eventually be ordered to repay the federal government tens of millions of dollars of fuel-tax rebates.
In addition, property taxes are delinquent on 11 real-estate holdings Knoll pledged as loan collateral, including his corporate headquarters.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Chemical Bank claims Knoll failed to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service, missed scheduled meetings and allegedly plays "hide and seek" in Gaylord "while his company, its dedicated employees and its creditors struggle to preserve corporate assets/collateral." The bank said the firm is "insolvent" and appears to be "unraveling at its seams."
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According to documents included in the Chemical Bank litigation, the IRS currently is withholding payment of more than $19.5 million in federal fuel-excise tax rebates that Knoll's Torco Racing Fuels company had claimed for two quarters in 2007 and 2008. The government refunds were used to collateralize a $15 million loan that Chemical Bank made to Knoll's company.
Knoll's company claims it paid excise taxes when it bought thousands of gallons of fuel from four sources that were blended to produce its racing grades, according to documents filed with the government and included in the Chemical Bank case.
According to the documents, Torco says it did not pass those taxes on to its customers who used its formulas in race cars. Excise taxes are charged for fuel used in street vehicles. The company said it filed for the rebates to recoup the excise taxes it paid to the government.
IRS investigators said Torco was not entitled to the excise tax rebates, according to the documents. Federal records included in the Chemical Bank case say Knoll has failed to provide documentation related to the fuel purchases demanded by the IRS.
According to IRS figures, Knoll's company was billing the federal government for rebates averaging about $4 million per quarter in 2005. By 2007, Torco's excise-tax rebate claims were averaging about $9 million per quarter.
Meanwhile, Seely told the court in a written communication on Aug. 25 that he is attempting to "keep each of the operating units open and conducting business as best possible."
In the report to Van Buren County Circuit Judge William C. Buhl, Seely said he has received calls from people interested in buying all or parts of Knoll's business.
A $15 million private jet Knoll was purchasing through another bank also has been repossessed and he faces a federal lawsuit over that transaction.
"Most employees are trying to keep the businesses operating and are willing to cooperate," Seely wrote in the communication. Seely said that since he has taken over he has had to lay off five employees "with more to come."
"The organization has no clear organization chart or job descriptions and there is extreme paranoia among the employees," Seely said.
The Gazette was unable to reach Knoll or his representatives for comment