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Lawsuit: Former CompUSA executives stole millions

 

A lawsuit provides a detailed account of how a Miami technology company’s leaders took part in what it calls a pattern of ‘unethical’ conduct.

 

Gilbert Fiorentino, former CEO of CompUSA, signed an agreement to separate from the company in 2011. CompUSA's parent company has filed a civil lawsuit maintaining that his brothers and "an unnamed executive'' defrauded the company. By agreement, the company cannot sue the former CEO.
Gilbert Fiorentino, former CEO of CompUSA, signed an agreement to separate from the company in 2011. CompUSA's parent company has filed a civil lawsuit maintaining that his brothers and "an unnamed executive'' defrauded the company. By agreement, the company cannot sue the former CEO.
LILLY ECHEVERRIA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF / LILLY ECHEVERRIA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

ewalker@MiamiHerald.com

The Fiorentino brothers were aggressive entrepreneurs who grew a small direct-mail catalog company into what is today CompUSA, a national electronics chain owned by a Fortune 1000 company.

Then greed got in the way.

Nearly nine months after Gilbert, Carl and Patrick Fiorentino were physically escorted out of the Miami headquarters of the company they started in 1987, the first official account of their transgressions has emerged in a lawsuit that was filed by CompUSA’s parent company in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The suit tells a classic tale of executives feeding at the corporate trough. The allegations include stealing electronics worth millions of dollars, taking family and friends on company-sponsored trips, negotiating kickbacks from vendors, and using employees for personal errands on company time.

Their employees and vendors eventually grew tired of the games and turned them in. A whistleblower investigation disclosed last March launched the demise of the Fiorentino brothers. Carl and Patrick were fired; Gilbert signed an agreement that separated him from the company.

The lawsuit by the New York-based parent company Systemax, and TigerDirect — the Miami-based operating company that bought the CompUSA brand in 2008 — accuses Carl and Patrick Fiorentino of unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty. Also accused in the suit are several others who allegedly aided them in their crimes: three low-level formerTigerDirect employees with connections to the executive suite, a Taiwanese vendor and its owner, and a Miami yacht maintenance company and its owner.

“Carl Fiorentino is the poster child for personal greed and unethical corporate conduct, having intentionally stolen and wasted million of dollars of money and other assets,” the lawsuit claims. Carl was TigerDirect’s president; Patrick was a vice president. Systemax bought TigerDirect in 1995.

Systemax and TigerDirect are seeking “millions of dollars in damages.” While the lawsuit doesn’t put an exact value on the damages, a report filed by CompUSA with the Miami-Dade Police Department in July estimated $17 million in electronics had been stolen. No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

A Systemax spokesman said the company would not discuss the lawsuit filed Friday by local counsel Michael Marsh of Akerman Senterfitt.

Carl Fiorentino’s attorney, Silvia Pinera-Vazuez, said late Friday she had not seen the lawsuit but that her client intends to dispute any allegations of wrongdoing and file a counterclaim.

Patrick Fiorentino could not be reached for comment.

Conspicuously missing as a defendant is former Chief Executive Gilbert Fiorentino. He reached a deal in May 2011 with Systemax to resign and surrender $11 million in assets in exchange for not being fired and a promise his bosses couldn’t sue him for his job-related actions. However, Friday’s lawsuit repeatedly refers to a “former senior executive of TigerDirect” whose alleged actions mirror those of Gilbert Fiorentino detailed in a previous Miami Herald article.

Gilbert Fiorentino’s attorney, Daniel Gelber, declined to comment Friday since his client is not named as a defendant in the suit.

Still, Friday’s suit may not be the end of legal action against the company’s founders. The Securities and Exchange Commission said in June it initiated a formal investigation into matters discovered during the whistleblower investigation.

dealsaver
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