"What I've been told by consumer affairs here is that there have not been that many complainants," he said. "They've decided we'll just pay it, and not worry about it. It's hard really, without having victims come forth and say 'This is what really happened.' So right now it's in a land of limbo."

The Minnesota Attorney General's Office would admit only to pursuing civil action, asserting that the case is out of their jurisdiction. Two weeks ago Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch suggested that grand jury proceedings outside Minnesota could be under way, through he could not confirm any specifics.

Since NSFF sold to schools in 20 states, it's possible that action could come from the U.S. Attorney's Office, though no criminal charges have been filed by either the Utah or Minnesota U.S. attorney's office.

"I haven't had direct contact (with federal officials), but this is one of our concerns also," Gunnerson said. "Minnesota has said that the company is in Utah. They've got as many victims, if not more, there than we have here. There's no reason they can't subpoena people from the company there, or extradite from here; it's sixes. If the feds get involved, then you've got many states, and one issue, and one case."

On June 14, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection pulled NSFF's charitable solicitation license after conducting an investigation. It cited a Minnesota judge's finding of probable cause in the civil fraud case, but division director Francine Giani said the investigation turned up other concerning information as well.

"As we've delved into that a little further, there are some things that concern us in their (financial) filings, which caused us to essentially pull the plug on their charitable work, or alleged charitable work, let's put it that way," said Giani. "I have to tell you, there are those that are doing greater things than that, and we would like to see those go forward and I think we'll watch to see what happens there."

Giani said she thinks future criminal charges are a strong possibility.

"It sounds to me like, based on what I've been told with the (bankruptcy) hearings, that there are many more greater penalties which could be assessed criminally on those people that have been involved in this process," she said. "We believe — and we have not yet proved this, which is why we have gotten another agency involved — we believe that they have been taking money from newly recruited schools and using that money to pay for this equipment."

During last Thursday's hearing in the bankruptcy case, a Chapter 11 trustee was appointed who will now be at the helm of NSFF's reorganization efforts.