Hartford Settles With Insurance Firm In Dillon Stadium Suit

Aug. 19--An insurance firm enmeshed in the failed bid to redevelop Dillon Stadium has agreed to pay the city $350,000, after Hartford leaders accused the company of issuing a fake certificate of coverage for the project.

Hartford sued Bruen Deldin DiDio Associates, its vice president Jeffrey Deldin, and former vice president Scott Hainey last year following the collapse of a long-running effort to revamp the aging stadium in Colt Park. City officials alleged the firm and its employees created a bogus certificate indicating the stadium project -- along with the city -- was insured when no policy had been issued. City leaders claimed a valid insurance policy would have allowed them to recover more than $700,000 in city funds they say were misspent by the developers.

Premier Sports Management Group, owned by one-time Dillon developer Mitchell Anderson, submitted a certificate of liability insurance from Bruen Deldin DiDio indicating that the Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Co. had provided millions of dollars in liability insurance to Premier Sports, with the city named as an additional insured. The document names Hainey as the "producer" of the certificate and is signed by Deldin as an authorized representative of the firm.

That document is dated Sept. 19, 2014, and the same day, according to the city's lawsuit, Anderson emailed a copy of the certificate to a Hartford official as proof of insurance. But the suit alleges that one day earlier, a representative of Providence Mutual emailed a Bruen employee, advising the agency that Providence Mutual would not insure Premier Sports because it could not assess the "exposure that is involved in property development and management of sports arenas, teams or individuals."

The Providence Mutual insurance certificate was created two weeks after Premier was dropped by another insurance company. On Sept. 5, 2014, Ohio Mutual canceled its policy with Premier, saying the developer did not meet its underwriting criteria, according to the city's lawsuit. In response to the suit, representatives of Bruen Deldin DiDio said that even if the liability insurance had been in place, the policy would not have covered the losses suffered by the city.

Anderson and his partner James Duckett were indicted last summer on fraud and conspiracy charges, accused of diverting more than a $1 million in city funds intended for the stadium project. Anderson pleaded guilty in February to fraud and money laundering charges, and promised to repay more than $1 million siphoned from the project. Duckett went to trial in June and was convicted on 12 of his 13 federal charges. Both are scheduled to be sentenced in October.

"The fraud and money laundering scheme of Mitchell Anderson and James Duckett was the cause of the city's Dillon Stadium loss. The property and casualty insurance specified by the city for the project would never have covered the losses caused by these now-convicted felons," said Garrett S. Flynn, an attorney for Bruen Deldin DiDio and Jeffrey Deldin. "My clients' settlement of the city's civil claims, without any admission of liability, was a business decision, made in consultation with their insurer, based on the unpredictable nature of litigation."

In its lawsuit, the city also named Anderson, Duckett and their development companies, as well as Florida firm Big Span Structures, which created renderings for the project and submitted what the city says were bogus invoices. Hartford officials are still seeking money from those defendants.

Premier Sports had about $171,000 in the bank after the stadium deal fell apart. That money -- now held by a lawyer for Premier and Anderson -- was ordered frozen by a judge last November.

An attorney for the city acknowledged in an email to council members Friday that Hartford probably won't receive much more from Anderson or Duckett.

"One component of their sentencing will be restitution to the city," Deputy Corporation Counsel Alexandra D. Lombardi wrote in notifying the council of the Bruen settlement. "That said, both individuals are essentially insolvent. While the city expects to receive some funds as part of the restitution orders, it is unlikely that the city will receive significant additional sums from these two individuals."

Mayor Luke Bronin called the settlement a "positive development" as Hartford tries to turn the page on what he deemed an "unfortunate chapter" for Hartford.

"The city will have a difficult time recovering funds from those who have been convicted of criminal fraud against the city," Bronin said, "but I am glad we've been able to recoup at least some of those funds through this settlement."

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