Updated 9:28 pm, Thursday, August 25, 2016
File photo of violinist Soozie Tyrell, who plays with the Bruce Springsteen band and made her her first solo album in 2003. A former Stratford town official has agreed to pay her $325,000 after an investment deal went sour.
STRATFORD — It can be said that Larry Ciccarelli is a man who wasn’t born to run — and he’s facing the music.
It was learned Thursday that the town’s former chief administrative officer and, more recently, its public safety director, reached a court settlement last year to pay $325,000 to Bruce Springsteen’s violinist, Soozie Tyrell, over an investment that went sour.
Ciccarelli, who is no longer a town employee, agreed to pay Tyrell — also known as Susan Kirchner — the money over a period of years, according to court papers.
“I just wanted to do the right thing,” Ciccarelli said in a telephone interview. “I lost a lot of money on the investment, too.”
The company at the center of this mess was called PH413 Inc. Now defunct, its last address was listed as 621 17th St., Vero Beach, Fla.
Its odd name comes from the New Testament verse Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
According to biblical scholars, this was written by Paul the Disciple.
But Ciccarelli said there wasn’t much that was holy about the company. In the business of developing multimedia presentations for Christian churches, the company lost a lot of money.
“We thought it was a good investment, but in the end, we all got hoodwinked,” he said. “Because I recommended it to her, I felt a moral obligation to pay her back.”
But Town Council Chairwoman Beth Daponte, the Democrat from District 1, said that the administration of Mayor John Harkins “owes Stratford an explanation” over the actions of Ciccarelli.
“For months, I have sounded the alarm on Mr. Ciccarelli's financial ties to the town of Stratford,” she said. “Now that this has come to light, the mayor owes the town a full explanation of why Mr. Ciccarelli was hired, at least an apology for his lapse in judgment, and must order a forensic accounting audit to assure that Mr. Ciccarelli didn't commit fraud or theft.”
Harkins, a Republican, supported Ciccarelli.
“It is unfortunate that chairwoman Daponte has launched this personal, political attack on Mr. Ciccarelli,” the mayor said. “Mr. Ciccarelli has survived multiple brain tumors, the loss of his beloved wife and mother to his children, and has served his country in the United States Army.
“In regard to his private business dealings,” Harkins said, “Mr. Ciccarelli has reached a satisfactory arrangement with a former associate. This matter is not related to the projects he has been so ably working on for the Town.”
Ciccarelli said that he’s “very upset” with Daponte.
“She de-funded my position with the town,” he said, adding her actions to get rid of him were “over the top.”
Ciccarelli is still a consultant with the town, but that arrangement will end soon, he said. And he said, “I will trake court action” against Daponte.
According to documents on file with the state of Florida Division of Corporations, the PH413 was incorporated in November 2008 and it was authorized to sell 25 million shares of common stock and 5 million shares of preferred stock, both with an initial value of one-tenth of one cent per share.
Ciccarelli was involved in the running of PH413 for a time, too — he’s listed as its chief operating officer the Florida DOC documents show.
“I was brought in because of a recommendation from a client,” he said. “I got excited about it, and I invested a lot of money into it — and I was talking it up to a number of people.”
Under the consent agreement between Ciccarelli and Tyrell, he is to pay her $2,000 a month this year, $3,000 a month in 2017, $4,000 a month in 2018 and 2019, ending with a so-called balloon payment of $162,000 on or before Jan. 1, 2020.
He was also required to take out a $550,000 life insurance policy listing Tyrell as the sole beneficiary.
The monthly payments began in 2015, when the agreement was reached in Bridgeport Superior Court. Ciccarelli’s house at 335 Andrew Street, Stratford, is listed as collateral.
Ciccarelli began as Tyrell’s “investment advisor” in August 2006, according to court documents. He recommended the PH413 investment in May 2009 convincing her to put $375,000 into the company.
But by this time, he was listed as PH413’s chief financial officer, which is not in keeping with proper fiduciary practices.
He also failed to tell her that PH413’s founder had been embezzling money and had resigned.
PH413 dissolved in September 2011.
Tyrell lives in Beacon, N.Y. She’s best known for her work with Springsteen in recordings and on stage, with and without the E Street Band.
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