Judge Approves TMI Settlement

A Superior Court judge has approved a $14-million settlement for educators who lost millions of dollars in retirement savings in the collapse of the Newport Beach company that handled their investments, Teachers Management & Investment Corp.

Judge John C. Woolley late Friday approved a $14-million settlement with the accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick and Comerica Bank-California.

TMI previously settled for $4 million. TMI’s law firm, Bruck & Perry in Newport Beach, had agreed to pay $2 million to settle.

The suit involved about 20,000 teachers and administrators statewide who invested in real estate partnerships in the 1970s and 1980s. After TMI collapsed in 1994, the teachers sought $50 million. They accused the company and its lawyers, auditors and bankers of propping up TMI while the professionals earned fees.

In settling the case, none of the defendants admitted wrongdoing. Peat Marwick said its portion of the latest settlement was about $10 million. The original banking defendant was National Bank of Long Beach, whose operations were later acquired by Comerica. Comerica said National’s former owners had agreed to pay its $4-million portion of the settlement.