Columbia Exec Sues Former Accountant : Hollywood: Michael Nathanson, the studio’s president of worldwide production, charges that he was bilked out of at least $1 million.

Michael Nathanson, president of worldwide production for Columbia Pictures, is accusing his former accountant of misappropriating at least $1 million.

In a case filed in Santa Monica Superior Court on Thursday, Nathanson alleges that accountant Robert Houston may also have diverted funds belonging to other Hollywood figures, including actor Ernest Borgnine and soap opera star Deidre Hall. A Borgnine spokesman declined comment, and Hall’s representatives could not be reached.

Nathanson, 37, said Houston used the studio executive’s money to pay his own bills and to cover the bills of some of his other clients, including Borgnine and Hall.

The lawsuit also said that Houston admitted to Nathanson during a meeting last August that he had diverted the money, promising to pay it back. But the lawsuit alleges that only $30,000 has been returned.

Houston’s lawyer, Michael Schulman, declined to comment on the lawsuit. According to the California Board of Accountancy, Houston, who has also worked for L.A. Kings owner Bruce McNall, has a current license and a clear record with the board.

The lawsuit describes five basic methods Houston allegedly used to divert money from Nathanson and his wife, Diana. They include depositing money in accounts that did not belong to the Nathansons, drawing down lines of credit that Houston established for the couple, writing checks for unauthorized purposes, purchasing cashier’s checks and using the couple’s automated teller card for unauthorized transactions.

Nathanson declined comment.

Nathanson’s lawyer, Howard L. Weitzman, said Houston is maintaining that there is no money to repay the funds, and that the accountant has failed to turn over key documents.

Weitzman added that Nathanson suffered credit problems because payments for credit cards and tax bills were not made. Weitzman said he is unaware of any criminal probe into the matter and is trying to determine why the money was diverted.

Nathanson is a key member of the management team at Columbia that helped turn around the studio with such box office hits as “A League of Their Own,” “A Few Good Men,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and “Groundhog Day.” Nathanson, whose middle name is Gimbel, is the grandson of Benedict Gimbel Jr. of the New York department store family.

Nathanson hired Houston as his accountant in May, 1987, according to the lawsuit. His wife became a client in 1990, the year the couple were married.

In July, 1992, the lawsuit said, the Nathansons told Houston they had decided to switch accountants and he told them he needed time to deliver the couple’s files to the new accountant. The lawsuit alleges that Nathanson and Houston then met, at which time Houston confessed what had occurred.