The NPPL Bankruptcy Filing

As I reported yesterday on 68Caliber, the formal court filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy by Pacific Paintball has finally hit the California Central District Court as a publicly available record.

Paintball Reserve has already put some of the files up in PDF format here - 68Caliber will be doing the same today.

However, it is the rare bird that actually enjoys reading through court documents (perhaps that should read ‘weird bird’), so I figured I’d take you all through a bit of it in plain ol’ english.

Most of the documents are boring legalese, and made worse by the fact that most of them are standardized forms which are about as dry as the Sahara – and less filling.

These are the kinds of forms that have little check boxes on them – but despite looking a little like standardized test forms (you know, the ones they give you in school to figure out of you’re a nutjob or simply eccentric) they do provide a little basic information:

Pacific is a corporation. Most of it’s debts are “business debts”.  They estimate that the number of creditors with claims (meaning, people/companies that they owe money to) is in the “1 to 49″ category,  their assets (stuff they have worth money) are in the “$100,001 to $500,000″ range (considering that the next box is for assets in the range of $500,001 to $1,000,000, I wonder what happens if your estimated assets are $500,000.50?  Do they kick you out of court?) none of their owned property poses an environmental or other threat to the nation, they’re in the correct venue, and their attorney of record has signed his name to indicate that he believes all of the information provided is valid and true.

The officially affiliated entities (wish they just say ‘other companies we own’) are: XPSL LLC, Camp Pendleton Paintball LLC, PB2X LLC, NPPL LLC and Xtreme Paintball Fields LLC.  The “LLC” stands for “limited liability corporation”, which means, basically, that if they go bankrupt, you can’t take houses or other personal property away from the officers.

A document attesting to the fact that the LLC moved to file for bankruptcy in the proper corporate manner is attached and signed by Bruce Friedman, CEO.

Another document, attesting to Friedman’s right to file is attached.

This is followed by two more formulaic filings – one attesting that there have been no prior filings by Pacific that would prevent them from filing this time, and another by the attorney, attesting to the fact that Pacific has paid him $26,794.00 for the filings – which include the filings for the other five companies mentioned earlier – and that the attorney is not currently owed anything else by Pacific for his work.

We then get to the fun stuff.  Like the list of creditors (the people/companies that Pacific and its entities owe money to):

Adler & Manson, LC 9233 Ward Parkway Suite 240 Kansas City, MO 64114	(cr)
Advanced Office Services 1430 – K Village Way Santa Ana, CA 92705	(cr)
All-Ways Trucking, Inc. 3639 Aviation Way Medford, OR 97504-9758	(cr)
Allied Insurance PO Box 514540 Los Angeles, CA 90051-4540	(cr)
American International Companies Houston, TX 77043	(cr)
Anke Corbin 1743 Cereus Court Carlsbad, CA 92011	(cr)
Arrowhead Mountain Springs Water PO Box 856158 Louisville, KY 40285-6158	(cr)
Ashley Price 6938 Elmhurst Ave Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730	(cr)
AT&T – Sacramento Payment Center Sacramento, CA 95887-0001	(cr)
AT&T Mobility PO Box 60017 Los Angeles, CA 90060-0017	(cr)
Blackwell Sanders LLP PO Box 795135 Saint Louis, MO 6317	(cr)
Brian Doyle 27974 John F Kennedy Apt A Moreno Valley, CA 92557	(cr)
Brown, Van Remmen, Kanuit, Inc. 1500 Rosecrans Ave Suite 210 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266	(cr)
Burt Talcott 541 Monterey Lane Fircrest, WA 98466	(cr)
Camille Lemanksi 11 Fairhaven Road Ladera Ranch, CA 92694	(cr)
Candi Vastlik 3062 W Chapman Orange, CA 92868	(cr)
Chris Lasoya 3062 W Chapman Orange, CA 92868	(cr)
Chrysler Financial PO Box 2993 Milwaukee, WI 53201-299	(cr)
Chrysler Financial PO Box 2993 Milwaukee, WI 53201-2993	(cr)
CIT Technology Financing PO Box 100706 Pasdena, CA 91189	(cr)
CIT Technology Financing PO Box 100706 Pasadena, CA 91189	(cr)
City of Riverside Central Cashiering 3900 Main Street Riverside, CA 92507	(cr)
Dave Zinkham 74180 Desert Star Blvd Palm Desert, CA 9226	(cr)
Department of Benefit Payments Collection Section 800 Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA 95814	(cr)
Employee Development Dept. Tax Collection Section M1C92E PO Box 826203 Sacramento, CA 94230	(cr)
Fed-Ex PO Box 7221 Pasadena, CA 91109	(cr)
Franchise Tax Board PO Box 942867 Sacramento, CA 94267-0018	(cr)
Franchise Tax Board Special Procedures Section 9750 Business Park Dr., #220 Sacramento, CA 95827	(cr)
GE/Hyster Capital PO Box 643749 Pittsburgh, PA 15264	(cr)
Heather Lauer-Wall 2217 Oak Avenue Hemet, CA 92545	(cr)
Internal Revenue Service Spcl Proc Collection Division Rm4062 Federal Bldg (Stop 5022) Los Angeles, CA 90012	(cr)
James Rountree Trust 10700 Jersey Blvd Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730	(cr)
Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP Joseph A. Eisenberg P.C. 1900 Avenue of the Stars, 7th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90067	(cr)
Jessica Macias 906 N English Street Santa Ana, CA 92703	(cr)
Jung Hong 936 1/2 N Verdugo Road Glendale, CA 9120	(cr)
Laurie Chapparosa 2397 Rose Avenue Hemet, CA 92545	(cr)
Law Office of Tyler Prochnow 1241 Stratford Road Kansas City, MO 64113	(cr)
Linda L. Peters, Esq. Department of Industrial Relations Office of the Director Legal Unit 2424 Arden Way Ste 130 Sacramento, CA 95025-2400	(cr)
Maher Technology Group 17072 Silica Drive Suite 101 Victorville, CA 9239	(cr)
Mark Dodge 74180 Desert Star Blvd Palm Desert, CA 92260	(cr)
Motor Carrier Specialists 1235 Indiana Court Suite 102 Redlands, CA 92374	(cr)
Noriega & Sons Lawn Service 24858 Gold Star Drive Moreno Valley, CA 92551	(cr)
Office Of The United States Trustee The Loring Building 3685 Main Street, Suite 300 Riverside, CA 92501	(cr)
Optic Fusion PO Box 1778 Tacoma, WA 98401-177	(cr)
PACIFIC PAINTBALL LLC 891 Iowa Avenue Riverside, CA 92507	(cr)
Penhall Rentals 841 Iowa Avenue Riverside, CA 92507	(cr)
Pitney Bowes PO Box 856390 Louisville, KY 40285-6390	(cr)
PR Newswire Association, LLC PO Box 5897 New York, NY 10087-5897	(cr)
Premium Financing Specialists PO Box 100384 Pasadena, CA 91189-0384	(cr)
Protection One PO Box 5714 Carol Stream, IL 60197-5714	(cr)
Pryor Cashman, LLP 410 Park Avenue New York, NY 10022	(cr)
Randy Walker Impact Project Management, Inc. 2872 S. Santa Fe Avenue San Marcos, CA 92506	(cr)
Reliable Tire Service 14135 Clark Street Baldwin Park, CA 91706	(cr)
Rick Rizzo 4005 Admirable Drive	(cr)
Riverside County Treasurer PO Box 12005 Riverside, CA 92502-2205	(cr)
Riverside Public Utilities 3900 Main Street Riverside, CA 92522-0144	(cr)
Scott Pierce 23 Argyle Drive Northport, NY 11768	(cr)
Silverado Apartments 25100 Vista Murietta Murietta, CA 92562	(cr)
Southwest Networks PO Box 580158 N. Palm Springs, CA 92258-015	(cr)
Staples Staples Credit Plan PO Box 689020 Des Moines, IA 50368-9020	(cr)
State Board of Equalization PO Box 942859 Sacramento, CA 94279-7072	(cr)
State Fund Insurance PO Box 9102 Pleasanton, CA 94566	(cr)
Steven Williams Activision 780 Equitable Dr Ste 200 Eden Prairie, MN 55344	(cr)
Telepacific Communications PO Box 526015 Sacramento, CA 95852-6015	(cr)
Terminix PO Box 742592 Cincinnati, OH 4527 Trico Disposal, Inc. Payment Processing Center PO Box 7166	(cr)
TKO Advertising, Inc. 2428 Camino Oleada San Clemente, CA 9267	(cr)
Travis Runyan 26497 Sequoia Avenue Moreno Valley, CA 92557	(cr)
Uline Attn: Accounts Receivable 2200 S. Lakeside Drive Waukegan, IL 60085	(cr)
Ultradot Media 9928 Bell Ranch Drive Santa Fe Springs, CA 9067	(cr)
UPS PO Box 894820 Los Angeles, CA 90189-4820	(cr)
Verizon Wireless PO BOX 9622 Mission Hills, CA 91346	(cr)
Winnercomm, Inc. Two Warren Place 6120 South Yale Tulsa, OK 74136-422	(cr)

Hmmm.  72 creditors, not “approximately 1 to 49″. 

Each of those companies is a story, isn’t it?  Why, for instance, the IRS “special proc division” – but perhaps even more intriguing – why is Pacific Paintball LLC itself listed as a creditor.  (Most likely because of loans made to the corporation.)

Lemanski, Lasoya, Turcott (hmmm, guess they didn’t “own” Paintball.com cause it’s back under Turcott’s management and PP still owes him something. )

I wonder if any of those mainstream companies – accounting firms, attorneys, equipment leasing, marketing, advertising & etc., will ever want to have anything to do with another paintball company in the future?

Next comes the good stuff: assets and liability details:

Pacific claims $416,915.90 in assets and $1,164,394.58 in liabilities.

By my calculator, that’s a shortfall of  $747,478.68 or almost three-quarters of a million dollars.

And then this amazing statement:  “Although Debtor and the affiliates have made an attempt to identify and allocate assets and liabilities to a particular entity, the correctness of such allocation is uncertain”

Which means that they either had poor bookkeeping, things were majorly in flux and they are still figuring out the paperwork, or they can’t figure out who owes what to whom.  Which would mean that internal operations were probably not handled in the most professional manner possible.

Then – the meat.  Detailed accounting of the assets and liabilities.  Pacific claims no real property (like land), but does list a fair amount of ‘personal property’ – like cash and stuff.

There’s a little under $2100 cash in a Wells Fargo bank account and

$35,500 in a security deposit for their office buildings.  Any idea on what the monthly rent was?  Most security deposits are at least one month’s rent, if not first and last – so wild-ass guessing, the Pacific Paintball/NPPL offices cost them anywhere from $17,750 to $35,500 per month.    Or maybe as much as  $426,000 on the year.

Or – $568 per team per event if you want to do accounting that way.  (All speculative wild-assed and probably far off the mark guesstimating – but then this would be a boring exercise in simple math without the swags, wouldn’t it?) (I used 5 events and 150 teams per event to arrive at the above number)

They’ve got accounts receivable of $29,671.34 (money billed for goods/services already delivered)

and that infamous claim against Shawn Walker for “misappropriation of  funds”, to the tune of $45,161.00

They list 14 website URLs for a total of $1000.00 ($71.41 each – filing fees?)

They claim vehicles (trailers, flatbeds)  at $36,000.00

office equipment at $45,000.00 and

“equipment” at $225,000.00 – that includes:  field hardware, id card printers, tents, turf, the Santa Clara Paintball Park and an air compressor.

Hmmm.  I wonder what the amortization schedule is for things like field netting?

In the accounts receivable department, Pacific is owed -

$1400+ from All Paintball Supply

$3200+ from ANS Xtreme

$3000 from Custom Products

$5000 from Deutsch

and

$17,000 from Planet Eclipse. 

And then we get to who is owed what and in what priority.  Creditors with unsecured ‘priority’ claims (first picksies after the “secured claims”) are:

Ashley Price – $2400+

Brian Doyle – $1800+

Burt Talcott $4100+

Camille Lemanski – $4100+

Candi Vastlik – $2000+

Chris Lasoya – $2900+

Dave Zinkham – $3300+

Heather Lauer-Wall – $2800+

Jessica Macias – $3500+

Jung Hong – $1300+

Laurie Chapparosa – $2800

Mark Dodge – $6000+

Rick Rizzo – $10,000+

Scott Pierce – $16,000+

Travis Runyon – $4900+

and Anke Corbin – $6300.

or apprximately $74,000 – for one month’s pay, severance (usually a month to a month and a half’s salary) and accumulated vacation (1 days pay per day of vacation not used – assume they’re generous and eveyone gets a minimum of 14 days paid vacation.   You’ll need an algebraic formula to figure it out – or some more swags – like, since it was the end of the year no one has any vacation days left, and since it was a small company, severance pay is a pittance – which means those numbers are probably close to the individual salaries for a month. 

Still in parentheses here – so, take that 74k and multiply by 12, to arrive at – an estimated $880,000 annual salaries for the PP staff.  Or – another $1173 per team – bringing our team overhead cost per event to almost $1700 bucks.   One begins to see that teams were paying close to ‘cost’ to attend events.)

 

With the exception of Anke, those debts are all listed as “Regular pay 12/1/2008, 2008 Severance & Vacation Accrued”.

There’s more – individual comanies, state and federal agencies, etc.  But if you look back up above, and do a little forensic analysis, you can get some idea of what Pacific was paying its employees on a monthly and annual basis.

If the amounts listed do reflect salary and compensation, it also probably says something about the relative worth (as far as the company is concerned) of the various individuals and their functions…

For now, I shall leave that as an exercise for the reader to contemplate.