New Jersey state law enforcement officials are investigating the Phillipsburg company's abrupt closure last month, according to the attorney, who plans to file for bankruptcy on behalf of owner Richard Norton.
Norton Oil Co., in a letter going out to its former customers, says that after 70 years in business "circumstances beyond our control" forced its abrupt closure last month.
"For any inconvenience this may have caused I am very sorry," the letter, provided tonight by the attorney for company owner Richard Norton, continues.
Customers who prepaid for oil, including a Bethlehem church that laid down $26,000 for its subsidized apartment building, will get neither money nor oil from the Phillipsburg company, the attorney, Charles Laputka, said tonight.
"Unfortunately there is neither of those things left," Laputka, who is based in Allentown, said in a telephone interview. "There is no money and no oil left."
Norton, of Palmer Township, has declined comment.
An investigation into Norton Oil's closing is underway by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office Division of Consumer Affairs, Laputka said. He said he anticipates the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office also getting involved.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office declined comment today, neither confirming nor denying an investigation.
Jeff Lamm, spokesman for the Division of Consumer Affairs, said today the office has collected more than 30 direct complaints in addition to more than 150 complaints filed by the Warren County Department of Weight and Measures.
Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke said Wednesday his office was not involved in any probe.Laputka called the closure "a bank financing issue" but said he couldn't elaborate because of the ongoing state investigation.
"We are fully cooperating with them and turning over all of the records and all of the files to show them exactly what happened," Laputka said, referring to New Jersey investigators.
Laputka said he plans to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy "between now and next Wednesday" in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Reading. Norton, his attorney said, guaranteed "hundreds of thousands" of dollars of the company's debt.
Norton Oil as a company "can't sustain" a Chapter 11 restructuring and reorganizing bankruptcy, followed by reopening, Laputka said.
A Chapter 7 341 hearing between Norton and creditors would be held in Allentown, which also has a federal courthouse, Laputka said.
"Essentially this is a company that's gone out of business like so many others during this economy," Laputka said, "and there's nothing left."
Asked how far in advance Norton knew his company was going under, as prepayments for oil continued to be accepted, Laputka said, "It was very sudden. Not long at all."
The letter from Norton Oil directs its former customers to Four Points Oil, which has local offices in Clinton and Allentown. The company "is not affiliated with Norton Oil Co. or its owners in any capacity," the letter reads, continuing:
"Four Points Oil Company has come up with a plan for all former Norton Oil customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to realize significant savings by issuing deep discounts for products and services to all former Norton Oil customers. ... While this plan is not perfect, it does give all former Norton Oil customers an opportunity to realize nice savings and a chance for those customers owed money to them by Norton Oil to experience a growing savings derived from being a Four Points customer over time."
A call to Four Points to confirm the offer was answered by Region Oil in Dover, N.J., where a sales representative said that company was offering former Norton Oil customers a discount as well.
Reporter Matthew Bultman contributed to this report.