Business Owner Accused Of 15-Year String Of Deceit

Over a six-month period in 1990, a 49-year-old South King County man stole nearly $280,000 worth of goods and services from customers, employees, and creditors of a boat-sales-and-repair-service firm he operated in Pacific, King County prosecutors charged yesterday.

A 206-count information alleges that when Philip Warnock closed the New Jolly Roger Marine Corporation in November 1990, it was "more than a mere business failure."

In a summary of the charges, senior deputy prosecuting attorney Ivan Orton wrote for the past 15 years, Warnock "has ignored or broken virtually every rule of fair play governing the economic underpinnings of a civilized society, leaving behind a trail of unpaid creditors, customers and employees."

The alleged pattern of deceit was cited to show Warnock was deliberately defrauding people, although most of the alleged scams are too old to prosecute, Orton said.

Warnock has owned or managed more than 30 companies, most of them in Washington. His businesses were generally of three types: boat companies, health clubs, and accounting services for the health clubs. One exception was Warnock's ownership of the Seattle Cavaliers, a semi-pro football club, in 1988 and 1989.

Warnock would start companies by borrowing money with no intention of repaying the loans, according to the charges.

Warnock's whereabouts are not known.