Atlas `estate' seeks millions from ex-CEO.(Brief Article)

Ray Zapp, founder and chief executive of now-defunct Atlas Telecom, could be forced to pay more than $3.3 million to the estate of his bankrupt company if found guilty of misusing company funds and deploying records to cover alleged crimes.

Testimony in the civil lawsuit brought on by John Mitchell, the trustee for the Atlas estate, finished last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland. Any funds recovered would be paid to Atlas' creditors.

That $3.3 million represents nearly $2.6 million in cash advances paid to Zapp by Atlas from 1991 through 1997 and $769,000 in direct payments to vendors that first went into Zapp's personal travel and expense account. …