Executive spending provokes lawsuit

NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- New Jersey company Access Communications is suing former owner Michael Mitrow for overuse of the corporate credit card, court papers say.

Mitrow founded Access, a marketing firm, in 1998 and sold it in 2007 for $24.7 million. He then stayed on as an executive for two years, a period in which he used the company's expensive account as if it was a personal expense account, the lawsuit alleges.

Court papers say "Mitrow's willingness to fleece Access was boundless," the New York Daily News reported Saturday.

Expenses charged on the account include a $16,000 family vacation in Costa Rica, a $36,390 rental -- for one day -- of a Viking yacht and a $6,000 Christmas Eve dinner.

In total, Mitrow owes the company $2.5 million, the lawsuit contends.

Mitrow's attorney, Peter Ginsberg, said the expenses were all cleared in advance. "This appears to be nothing more than these executives attempting to deflect their own actions by blaming someone who is no longer there to defend himself," he said.