NEWS & EVENTS

Disgraced former teachers union boss Pat Tornillo has reached a settlement with the United Teachers of Dade, agreeing to turn over two life insurance policies worth about $1 million in compensation for dues he embezzled.

The settlement, announced on Thursday, leaves the accounting firms that handled the union’s finances — Grant Thornton and Cummings Grayson & Co. — and two union financial executives as defendants in a 2004 lawsuit brought by the UTD.

Union attorney Loren Cohen, a partner at Mitrani Rynor & Adamsky in Miami, said after Tornillo’s criminal trial that there were few assets left to pursue.

“A lot of the issues were in terms of the allocation of resources,” Cohen said in an interview. “If you look at [U.S. District Judge Adalberto] Jordan’s order, a lot of the liquid assets [Tornillo] had are gone. We thought of trying to resolve the issues with them and then move on to the accountants.”

Tornillo’s attorney, Michael J. Rosen of Miami, did not return a call for comment before deadline.

Tornillo pleaded guilty to federal fraud and tax evasion charges in 2003. Prosecutors said Tornillo used union money for an Asian cruise, a beachfront Caribbean villa, an African safari and other extravagances. He is estimated to have defrauded the union of about $2.5 million, according to an internal audit conducted for the union by its parent, the American Federation of Teachers.

At the age of 78 and in poor health, Tornillo was sent to prison to serve a 27-month sentence. He was incarcerated in February 2004 and was also ordered to repay the union $800,000, which he has now paid, according to a statement.

His misconduct created a financial hardship for the union, which had to sell its Biscayne Boulevard headquarters for $22 million to help pay off union debts Tornillo had also accumulated.

In 2004, the union filed a suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in a bid to recoup more funds from Tornillo and from the UTD’s accountants.

In addition to naming Tornillo and his wife in the civil complaint, the union also named the accounting firms and the union’s former chief financial officer, James Angleton Jr., and financial consultant David Albaum.

The suit alleged that Tornillo’s scheme worked because of the negligence and mismanagement of the union’s accountants.

Now that Tornillo has settled, Cohen will turn his full attention to the accountants.

“What I’m going to do is change the complaint to eliminate counts against the Tornillos, then ask to take depositions against accounting witnesses,” Cohen said.

Jessica M. Walker can be reached at jmwalker@alm.com or at (305) 347-6649.