Platinum Suit Alleges Funds Sent Overseas : Courts: Investors’ lawyers say former CEO of Irvine software firm moved $500,000 to a foreign bank the day after he resigned.

Gerald R. Blackie, former chief executive of Platinum Software Corp. of Irvine, moved money to an overseas bank account the day after he resigned from the company, lawyers for shareholders who are suing Blackie said Friday.

William Lerach, attorney for a group of Platinum investors suing Blackie and four other former top executives of the accounting software company, alleged that Blackie shifted $500,000 to a Swiss bank account to hide it.

But Marvin Morgenstein, lawyer for Blackie, argued that Blackie simply chose to shift money overseas because his investments in the United States were faring poorly. He said that Blackie, who has since taken a job as a consultant, willingly disclosed the location of all his assets, including the money in the overseas bank account.

The arguments were made Friday during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on whether to freeze $24 million in assets held by Blackie and the others.

In a lawsuit filed in January, the investor group alleged that Platinum and its officers defrauded them and violated various securities regulations by misleading them about the accounting software firm’s prospects. The suit prompted an internal accounting review at Platinum.

In April, the company acknowledged that it had overstated its revenue for the past 18 months, prompting four top executives, including founder Blackie, to resign.

The resignations and a subsequent restatement that knocked down previously reported revenue by $18.2 million threw the company into a financial crisis.

On Wednesday, Platinum settled its portion of the lawsuit by agreeing to pay $17 million in cash and corporate IOUs to shareholders who bought stock between Oct. 22, 1992, and April 18 of this year. Friday’s hearing focused on the portion of the lawsuit naming the individual officers of the company.

U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler made no ruling Friday on whether to freeze the assets of the former officers, including Blackie; Jon Erickson, former chief financial officer; Mark Tague, former treasurer; and Timothy McMullen and Kevin Riegelsberger, who gave up their titles as executive vice presidents but remain employed by the company.

Stotler said she may announce a decision as early as Tuesday.

Lawyers for each defendant argued against the freeze, saying it would impose undue financial hardships on the former officers.

But Lerach, the investors’ lawyer, said his clients fear that Blackie might flee, making impossible the recovery of any money due shareholders.

He said that Blackie also established a residence in Florida and refused to sign a settlement with the plaintiffs because it would have prohibited him from sending money to his parents in New Zealand.