On Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard M. Neiter on Friday ordered Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street to pay more than $7 million in damages to the End of the Road Trust. Back before he was elected in 2006, Street was the trustee hired to close up the bankrupt Fruehauf Trailer Corp. from 1998 until he was forced to leave in July 2005. The new trustee sued Street for mismanagement of the trust assets including fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in February 2007.
Street is facing reelection to his current position of Treasurer-Tax Collector in June. Currently two people have announced their intentions to challenge Street, Patrick Desmond a county employee in the Assessor’s office who ran against Street in 2006, and the elected treasurer from Huntington Beach, Shari Freidenrich.
We expect to hear from Street’s Attorney Phil Greer sometime today with a statement. While you’re waiting, check out the coverage by Ron Campbell and Jennifer Muir of the OCRegister here.