TUCSON, Ariz - The accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche has agreed to settle a civil lawsuit that accused it of helping to defraud investors in American Continental Corp., Charles H. Keating Jr.'s former thrift holding company.
The deal was said to include a $7.5 million penalty by Deloitte, but U.S. District Judge Richard Bilby ordered that terms of the settlement not be immediately disclosed.
Also settling Keating-related charges was Lexecon Inc., a Chicago-based economics consulting concern.
The two settlements essentially resolve the civil fraud litigation in Tucson federal court arising from the 1989 collapse of American Continental's subsidiary, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif.
Only a handful of defendants remain in the case, which has sought to lay blame for Lincoln's collapse on accountants, lawyers, and consultants as well as Mr. Keating.
Before the Deloitte and Lexecon pacts, the total value of settlements in the Arizona case was about $185 million.
