The LA Times is reporting that yesterday a jury in Orange County awarded $1 million in punitive damages against Dan Harkey and his real estate lending company, Point Center Financial, based on allegations that Harkey maliciously breached his fiduciary duties to investors by making ill-advised loans and pocketing fees and commissions from those loans.  The total verdict is $10 million, counting the jury’s prior award of $9 million in compensatory damages.

The case has generated a lot of publicity because Harkey is the husband of Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, who was initially named as a defendant but later dismissed.