Tab for Parish inquiry still exceeds $6,000 a day

The government is spending less to investigate Al Parish as its case against the fallen economist winds to a close, but the tally to follow his paper trail is still more than $6,000 a day.

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The receiver handling the case has asked a federal judge to approve $340,306 in fees for work in January and February at an average rate of $247 an hour, pushing the tally on the treasure hunt to more than $2 million.

Similar bills in the first two months of the investigation were roughly twice as high. However, as Parish's June 26 sentencing approaches, most of the heavy lifting has been done. The teams of attorneys, appraisers and accountants working on the case are now trying to resolve tax issues and the ownership stakes Parish had in a number of private homes and businesses.

"It's cleanup," said David Dantzler, the Atlanta attorney representing the receiver. "Every once in a while we'll get a hand grenade thrown at us ... but I think it's going to be pretty quiet until around the time he's sentenced."

Much of the bill for January and February work was attributed to hammering out a $3.9 million settlement with Parish's most recent employer, Charleston Southern University, and organizing an auction of his four Lowcountry homes on Feb. 26.

Forensic accountants also spent a great deal of time resolving tax issues so the 600 or so investors defrauded by Parish could recover taxes they paid on purported returns. Dantzler said the bilked investors will be able to redeem millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service, cash that won't be considered in the final tally of recovered assets.

Investigators now estimate that Parish stole or squandered roughly $79 million and, in a best-case scenario, they will recover between 10 percent and 20 percent of that sum, or between $8 million and $16 million.

The process has not been cheap. Some $2.1 million of the seized windfall has gone to cover the search and to pay those working on the case between $12.50 and $464 an hour.

U.S. District Judge David Norton has approved all of the fee requests through December. He has yet to rule on the application for January and February expenses.

Parish, who was charged with fraud and fired by CSU almost a year ago, pleaded guilty in October. Legal experts expect the former professor to receive a 15- to 20-year prison term.