Frog Rock finances scrutinized at trial Proceedings expected to conclude Thursday

BANGOR – Three weeks before the Frog Rock Cafe went up in flames, its owners and their various businesses were in “dire straits” financially, according to an accountant hired to investigate the financial picture of the eatery on the shores of Moosehead Lake.

Testifying on the sixth day of a civil trial, Peter Fogarty listed past-due bills owed by Frog Rock owners Leigh Turner and Mariette Sinclair that totaled $410,000 as of Dec. 31, 1998. The restaurant burned to the ground on Jan. 20, 1999.

In addition, coming balloon payments on various mortgages and other accounts needing payment by spring 1999 meant the pair’s debts totaled about $784,000, 15 times their current assets, Fogarty said.

Also, two collection lawsuits had been filed against them and judgments totaling more than $180,000 against the business had been entered in Piscataquis County Superior and District courts.

“The claimants were suffering from a severe cash deficiency and would continue to suffer it throughout 1999 … I don’t think they could survive,” Fogarty said when asked to give his professional opinion on the restaurant’s viability.

The testimony came as the trial winds down to an expected conclusion Thursday. Turner and Sinclair are suing the Netherlands Insurance Co. for undisclosed damages. The company did not pay their claim after the Frog Rock Cafe burned down. The fire was ruled arson, but no arrests have been made in the case. D. Brock Hornby, chief U.S. District Judge for Maine, is presiding.

On cross-examination, Tyler Kolle, a Lewiston lawyer, asked Fogarty to read off the market values of properties mortgaged by Turner and Sinclair including restaurants in Greenville, Auburn and New Hampshire. The property values totaled more than $1 million. The properties have been sold at auction, but Kolle used their values as fodder to discount Fogarty’s glum testimony on the restaurant’s potential to rescue itself from debt.

“If these numbers are plugged into your balances, it [the restaurant’s financial picture] looks considerably different,” Kolle said.

“Yes, sir, I would agree with that,” Fogarty said.

One of the last witnesses to testify during the trial, Fogarty was hired by the Netherlands Insurance Co. a day after the restaurant fire. He reviewed some of his findings when questioned by the insurance company’s attorney, Jerry Montejunas of Boston.

For more than a week, Montejunas has questioned insurance adjusters and accountants in detail, drawing conflicting opinions about the restaurant’s finances and other issues.

On Tuesday, fire investigators including Stewart Jacobs of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said samples from the burned restaurant came back positive for the presence of gasoline. Jacobs said a “human element” was involved.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone, who is coordinating the arson investigation for the government, has monitored the civil case on occasion.

Turner and Sinclair claim bad faith, breach of contract and other allegations in their lawsuit. The Netherlands Insurance Co. believes Turner caused the fire. Turner has denied the allegation.

The insurer also charges Turner and Sinclair with fraud, a claim both deny.

After a day off, the eight-member jury will return Thursday for closing arguments.