Charleston Southern University has reached an agreement with court-appointed receiver David Dantzler to settle allegations arising from its relationship with Al Parish, a former economics professor at the university. Parish, who pleaded guilty to defrauding hundreds of investors out of more than $90 million, awaits sentencing in federal court.
Charleston Southern UniversityAccording to the agreement negotiated with court-appointed receivership attorney David Dantzler filed Feb. 5, the university’s insurance company will pay $3.75 million and the school will pay $160,000 to the receivership.
Charleston Southern also has agreed to waive its claim to $8.4 million, which it had invested with Parish, until other investors recover at least 18 percent of their investment. Judge David Norton has set a hearing on terms of the agreement for Feb. 25. The university has denied that it knew of any illegal activities that Parish conducted through Parish Economics, LLC.
The university acknowledges no wrongdoing in the agreement. Dantzler said, “Clearly, we would not have settled with the school if we thought anyone had been knowingly complicit with Parish in the wrongdoing.”
Joe Tierney Jr., one of the attorneys who worked on the settlement agreement, stated, “I think ‘prudent’ would be the best word describing the agreement.”
Previous stories:
Charleston Southern University files suit against Parish Economics (April 13, 2007)
CSU board affirms president, makes plans for ‘moving forward’ (April 19, 2007)