Thursday, March 27, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The buses of Ray & Ross Transport Inc., believed to be the largest minority-owned transportation company in Southern Nevada, will continue to roll along -- at least for the time being.
The Public Service Commission on Wednesday continued a hearing at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building on whether to shut down the embattled charter service until May 12 to give company officials more time to sort through financial records.
At the hearing, George Swarts, court-appointed receiver, explained that he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the embattled bus company on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
"The idea is to keep the company up and running," Swarts said. "We want to keep people working. At various times this company employs 60 to 100 people."
The PSC hearing was scheduled after a nearly year-long investigation by the PSC's enforcement branch uncovered what it termed "serious allegations" of several violations by the charter bus service.
The allegations involve a transfer of ownership, transfer of control of the company, and not meeting leasing or ownership requirements, according to investigators in the PSC enforcement branch.
It was the Regulatory Operations Staff, the PSC's investigatory and enforcement arm, that earlier filed a petition requesting the commission to hold Wednesday's hearing to determine whether the bus company should be closed for 60 days pending the results of an investigation into the allegations.
But PSC Commissioner Timothy Hay, who conducted Wednesday's hearing, agreed to the continuance provided company officials keep the PSC informed as to the status of its bankruptcy petition and of various lawsuits against the bus company by creditors.
In one such action, 900 Capital Services in January petitioned District Court Judge John McGroarty for an order for the appointment of the receiver, and the San Francisco-based collection service also indicated that it holds 10 percent of the outstanding indebtedness of Ray & Ross and that the charter bus company is "insolvent."
Despite the lawsuits and allegations against Ray & Ross, chief operating officer Elgin Simpson said things are rolling along at the charter, tour and sight-seeing service.
"All the money going in and out of the company will be accounted for. It just needs to be properly documented," said Simpson, who explained that bookkeeping problems developed because the company did not have an accountant for a period of time.
"All the records are there," Simpson said.
William Urga, who has been retained by Swarts as attorney for the company, said the continuance will give the bankruptcy court and various officials charged with sorting through the company's records time to try to devise a plan to keep the wheels of the bus company rolling.
"The main thing is everyone is still employed at Ray & Ross, and that the insurance and safety requirements are being satisfied," Urga said. "We want to keep people employed. And this company is one of the largest employers on the west side."
Urga said the case involving Ray & Ross is "extremely complicated" because it involves several state and federal agencies, as well as outside creditors who are suing the company.
"You've got the state issues, the court-appointed receivership, the PSC issues, and then you fold over the Bankruptcy Court and its actions, and you can see how complicated it is."
Urga said he expects U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Clive Jones, who is overseeing the company's petition, to set up a meeting of creditors within a month or so.
"The U.S. bankruptcy code gives the court wide reaching power to request records and statements from outside the state," Urga said.
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