An Investment Turned Sour : Receiver Named for Activator Supply Co.

An Orange County certified public accountant has been appointed to serve as receiver for Activator Supply Co., a Nevada company involved in a defunct, nationwide investment program that involved the marketing of bacterial cultures grown in soured milk. About 27,000 people invested $63 million before the operation collapsed last month, according to government investigators.

On Friday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Mack Lovett asked Daniel M. Foley to review all the California bank accounts of Activator Supply Co. of Pahrump, Nev.

Foley, a resident of Tustin, has 30 days to report his findings to the court. Activator Supply Co. sold culture-growing kits for $35 each. Investors then sold the cultures they grew to a second firm, Culture Farms Inc. of Lawrence, Kan., until that company filed for bankruptcy protection last month. Culture Farms was placed in receivership last week.

Was IRS Investigator

Foley said he will ask the banks to send him all the money deposited in Activator Supply Co.’s accounts. The funds will be deposited in an interest-earning receivership account while Foley processes investor claims. Foley worked as a criminal investigator for the Internal Revenue Service for 28 years.

Roland Nocera, president of Activator Supply Co., said in a previous interview that about $3 million is on deposit in various banks, including the downtown San Francisco branch of the Bank of America. Nocera, who could not be reached for comment Monday, said he has already returned about $8 million to investors.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Al Shelden said investors with claims against Activator Supply Co. should not contact Foley directly, but should write to the attorney general’s Public Inquiry Unit, 1515 “K” St., Sacramento., Calif. 95814, for claim forms.