Deal gone awry teaches harsh lesson

KWG Enterprises converts standard horse trailers into combination horse trailers and recreational vehicles with high-end living quarters. Gross said Quest officials agreed to buy KWG for $6.4 million in October 2003.

Gross relinquished control of the company, but continued as a salaried employee while Quest was securing financing. Over the next eight months, Quest officials Clayton and Christopher Smart ran the company, changing the name to Ozark Mountain Classics and moving some equipment to Ozark Mountain Interiors Inc., though Quest’s deal to purchase OMI was also incomplete, Gross said.

“The financing never came through,” he said.

Gross said he had no choice but to forcefully regain control of the company. On June 10, he changed the building locks and gave Quest officials until June 15 to vacate the property.

“It got a little hostile,” Gross said. “The police were called to escort them off.”

Quest officials in Tulsa and Okmulgee, Okla., could not be reached for comment. Two numbers for the company are disconnected and a third number was constantly busy.

During Quest’s reign, Gross estimates he lost $250,000 in equipment, lease payments for the building he owns and personal salary he never received. But worse, he said, may be the damaged relationships with horse trailer dealers he did contract work for.

“They ran a lot of my dealers off,” Gross said. “Now I’m rebuilding my business.”

Gross has renamed it Cowboy Classics LLC.

Part of the rebuilding process for Gross is clearing his name in court. According to Kelly Martin, Christian County assistant prosecuting attorney, Gross has a felony count pending for passing bad checks. Martin said Gross issued five checks totaling more than $45,000 to suppliers.

Gross said those checks were written within a month of Quest’s takeover, with the understanding that financing would come through. “They were going to do a wire transfer,” he said. “I wrote the checks and they never wired the money.”

Christian County records show Gross has made restitution for $17,000. He has until Aug. 25 to pay the balance.

Christian County prosecutors also have two felony counts pending against Christopher Smart for writing three insufficient checks valued at more than $5,000. A court date has not been set, Martin said.

Gross has hired Springfield attorney Joseph Bohrer and said he plans to sue for the money he claims he is owed and for punitive damages.

Gross said he has learned a valuable lesson.

“I still operate on the old ways in life that my grandfather and dad taught me, that a handshake is worth more than the paper (a contract) is written on. I guess that’s not true,” he said.