Treasurer ordered to pay $7 million

Orange County Treasurer Tax Collector Chriss Street has been ordered by a federal bankruptcy judge to pay more than $7 million in damages related to trustee work he performed for a bankrupt company, according to published reports.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard M. Neiter found that Street, a Newport Beach resident, “breached his fiduciary duty five years ago when he served as a trustee for a bankrupt truck-trailer company,” the Orange County Register reported.

The judge then directed Street to pay more than $7 million in damages to End of the Road Trust, according to the newspaper. Attorneys for the company had asked the court to order Street to pay $11.9 million in damages.

Street served as a court-appointed trustee from 1998 through July 2005, when he was elected Orange County treasurer.

The company’s attorneys argued in court that Street wasted money, delayed payments to creditors and breached his duty “in an effort to serve his own selfish ends,” the Register reported.

Street is running for reelection, but he faces mounting criticism.

County Supervisor John Moorlach has urged Street to resign.

— From staff reports