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Law enforcement is investigating an alleged fraud at the 72 year-old company, which was based in Penn Township, Lancaster County. Creditors, including at least two local banks, are owed millions of dollars.
In addition, former employees are alleging they were not adequately warned of the company’s closure in early June. They are suing for 60 days’ worth of pay and benefits.
And Seth Obetz, the company’s former vice chairman, is looking to start a new venture in the energy business.
Soon after the news broke, business leaders in Lancaster County responded by organizing a job fair for laid-off Worley & Obetz employees, roughly 250 in all.
“Worley and Obetz has been an iconic company in Lancaster County. It has a very rich history and has been a model corporate citizen. And to watch all of that unravel in a week’s time was nothing short of head spinning,”said Tom Baldrige, president and CEO of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry.Founded in 1946, the company and its subsidiaries provided a range of fuels and HVAC services to residential and commercial customers. The company also operated Molly’s, a convenience store near its headquarters.
Worley & Obetz did not report revenue for 2016, but for 2015 it reported total sales of $520.53 million, enough to make it No. 6 on the Central Penn Business Journal’s list of Top 100 private companies, ranked by revenue. It also was listed among this newspaper’sfastest-growing companies.
Everything came to a halt this spring. On June 6, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The move allows for the company and its assets to be liquidated.
The bankruptcy is not the only legal issue for the former Worley & Obetz.
The company and its subsidiaries shut down June 4 amid news of an investigation into alleged fraud relatedto a former executive. The executive has not been identified by law enforcement.
The investigation involves the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office and Northern Lancaster County Regional Police, according to previous news reports.
Authorities haven’t been forthcoming with information.
But in a statement to other media outlets, an attorney for Worley & Obetz pointed a finger at Jeffrey...