Case, sealed by court, resolved — with no details

A lawsuit against Georgia Board of Regents Chairman Richard L. Tucker has been resolved, according to the parties in the case, but the details remain under court seal.

Tucker, a prominent Gwinnett businessman, was sued last year by Blairsville-based United Community Bank. The public was denied access to the case after Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Ronnie K. Batchelor sealed virtually every document in the file, at Tucker’s request.

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Georgia Board of Regents Chairman Richard L. Tucker asked Judge Ronnie Batchelor to seal case details.

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Tucker sought to have the case sealed because disclosure of the allegations would cause him to suffer “intimidation, insult and embarrassment,” according to Batchelor’s order.

The vast majority of documents in court actions are open to the public, even those involving divorce cases and business disputes that are sensitive in nature. Georgia ethics activist George Anderson has sought to have the documents in the Tucker lawsuit unsealed.

The lawsuit “was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all the parties,” Tucker said last week.

The case will remain sealed, which Tucker said is appropriate.

“It was a private matter,” he said.

An attorney for the bank confirmed that the suit was resolved.

The claims in the suit are under seal, but United Community Bank attached notice of the lawsuit to land records in Rabun and Glynn counties involving property owned by Tucker or his companies at Lake Burton and Sea Island, respectively. Those documents said the bank sought in the lawsuit to prevent a fraudulent transfer of property and the authority to seize property after obtaining a judgment in the lawsuit.

Tucker invests in real estate and is co-owner of Suwanee’s Beverage SuperStore, one of the highest-volume liquor stores in the state. He is managing partner of Arlington Capital LLC, a real estate equity lending fund, also a defendant in the lawsuit.

Georgia Trend magazine has repeatedly named Tucker to its list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians.

Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Tucker in 2005 to the Board of Regents, which oversees the University System of Georgia. The board elected Tucker to serve a one-year term as chairman last June.