Judge puts off decision on control of raceway park

A judge won’t decide for another two months whether to appoint a receiver to take over financial operations of Spokane Raceway Park, where 500 limited partners say they’ve received no return on their $2.5 million investment.

After two days of testimony, Superior Court Judge Robert Austin on Tuesday set Feb. 22 for the resumption of the hearing examining the financial operations at the square-mile racing complex in Airway Heights, west of Spokane.

The judge is considering a request from the limited partners who want a court-appointed receiver named to assume control of the operation that Orville Moe has run almost single-handedly for 30 years.

The dissident investors hoped that would occur with two days of court time this week, but testimony didn’t appear even close to being concluded when the judge called a Christmas recess with Moe on the witness stand late Tuesday afternoon.

The 67-year-old businessman was subpoenaed to testify by John Giesa, one of three attorneys representing the limited partners.

Giesa showed Moe a 1973 prospectus that offered the public sale of “A units” for $500 a share and “B” units at $5,000 apiece in Washington Motorsports Ltd.

The state-sanctioned stock offering eventually raised about $2.5 million from limited partners in Washington Motorsports, who joined Moe as the track operator and general partner as Spokane Raceway Park Inc.

Moe’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, objected to the plaintiffs’ attempt Tuesday to introduce the public stock offering as an exhibit that the judge will review before rendering his decision.

“We object to the relevance of a 30-year-old stock offering,” Oreskovich told the court.

To that, the judge looked at the packed courtroom galley and told Oreskovich, “There are a lot of ‘A’ and ‘B’ shares sitting right behind you. I think it’s relevant.”

Giesa then proceeded to read Moe sections of the stock offering, which guaranteed the limited partners semi-annual reports, annual certified audits and copies of the racing complex’s annual federal income tax returns.

Don Materne and Ed Torrison, the lead plaintiffs in the civil suit against Moe, previously offered sworn statements that they have never received any of those reports. They and other limited partners say they have never seen any return on their investment and have been told by Moe their 30-year-old stock is worthless.

An earlier witness, Jim Tice Jr., who worked at Spokane Raceway Park, testified that W-2 and 1099 tax forms routinely were not issued to employees and race winners. He also said Orville Moe’s daughter, Terry Graham, regularly signed her father’s name on checks given to race winners.

Moe conceded that occurred when he was questioned about the check-signing practice Tuesday by Giesa.

Moe said that during the popular AHRA World Finals drag races each August, he would pre-sign a few checks, but then would get busy and drivers would be requesting their prize money in the track office.

“One day she asked me if she could sign the checks, so I said, ‘Fine, you go ahead and sign them,’ ” Moe testified.

Giesa then asked Moe if he can discern between his signature and his name signed by his daughter. Moe said he could.

“Did you ever tell the bank she was signing your name on the checks?” Giesa asked.

Moe said he had not told his bank, accountant Larry Wyatt of LeMasters & Daniels or tax attorney Bob Kovacevich.

Earlier, Moe testified he and Kovacevich are now the only two members of the board of directors of Spokane Raceway Park Inc. For its officers, Moe is president, Realtor Pat Kenney is vice president and accountant Dominick Zamora, of LeMasters & Daniels, is secretary-treasurer.

Moe said his younger brothers, Maynard Moe and Earl Moe, were voted off the board of directors a year ago even though they each still owned 15 percent of Spokane Raceway Park Inc.

“My brother, Maynard, had threatened me,” Orville Moe said, alluding to an offer to buy him out and replace him with other investors headed by his nephew, Troy Moe, Maynard’s son.

“He told me, ‘I’ll take you down. I’ll ruin you,’ ” Orville Moe said. “We over-voted them and we replaced them on the board.”

Giesa asked why the same accounting firm does the annual audit for both Washington Motorsports and Spokane Raceway Park Inc.

Moe said LeMasters & Daniels has handled the accounting for the track since the early 1980s and he saw no reason to have a separate accounting firm handle the interests of the limited partners.

He also was questioned about U.S. Fast Foods, which provides concession services at the race track. It was started by Kovacevich and Frank Duvall, Moe testified.

Before Duvall filed for bankruptcy several years ago, he “gave his interest” in U.S. Fast Foods to Orville Moe, the witness testified. Moe said he now owns 95 percent of the concession company and Kovacevich owns 5 percent.