Shareholders Suspect Abuses at Sierracin : Suit Seeks Accounting of Chairman’s Expenses

A Northern California couple who are major Sierracin Corp. shareholders allege in court documents that the chairman of the Sylmar-based firm, Christoph Tribull, may have improperly spent company funds on personal expenses such as polo ponies and a Beverly Hills home.

In a suit filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, shareholders Herbert and Euretta Hastings maintain that Sierracin paid “more than $1 million for Tribull’s daily living and ‘business’ expenses during the last five years.”

They allege that Tribull’s reimbursed expenses, which came on top of his regular pay, “may be wasting the assets” of the aerospace and electronics company. According to the company’s most recent proxy statement, Tribull was paid $369,664 in salary and a bonus last year, along with an undisclosed amount for expenses.

Records Sought

The Hastingses, who say they have the second largest stake in the company, with 7% of its stock, are asking the court to order Sierracin to surrender records giving details of any personal expenses Tribull may have paid for with company funds.

They also request the release of other records concerning the management and operation of the company “in light of the enormous turnover” among its directors and executives since Tribull became chairman in 1979. In their suit, filed Tuesday, the Hastings say they are asking the court for the help because Sierracin has refused to release some of the documents they have requested.

Gary Patten, a Sierracin spokesman, declined to comment Wednesday. Tribull, the company’s largest shareholder with more than 40% of its stock, could not be reached for comment.

Tribull previously has called his business expenses “normal,” and said that they were not challenged by the Internal Revenue Service when the agency conducted a routine audit of the company this year.

Alleged Purchase of Ponies

In their court filing, the Hastings maintain that Tribull spent more than $300,000 last year in company funds for personal purposes, including $100,000 for housing and more than $20,000 in “tax services” for a corporation he owns. They also contend that Tribull used $30,000 from the company in 1983 to buy polo ponies in South America.

The case comes during a troubled year for Sierracin, which employs 1,175 workers in the United States and Mexico. The company also has suffered from losses and reduced sales that it blamed on the slowdown in the electronics industry.

During the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company lost $1.3 million, down from a profit of $3.3 million during the same period last year.

Sales were down 11% to $55.6 million.

In July, Sierracin lost a costly lawsuit brought by Boeing in which Sierracin and a partner were found by a county judge in Seattle to have improperly used Boeing designs to make cockpit windows for other aircraft manufacturers.