The Oregon Bar has dismissed its complaint against a Bend attorney who was accused of knowingly allowing a client to mismanage another client’s funds.

Anthony Albertazzi, who has practiced law in Bend for more than 17 years, was told in May 2012 that he would be the subject of a formal disciplinary hearing scheduled for this month. The complaint alleged he violated three rules of professional conduct in his dealings with former Bend real estate broker Tami Sawyer, who is currently serving time in a federal penitentiary for bilking investors out of millions of dollars.

But on May 20, Albertazzi received notice that the Bar would drop the formal complaint and dismiss the charges.

“I’m really happy to have this behind me,” Albertazzi said Sunday.

He said he was not given a reason for the dismissal, but said he’d provided the Bar with more than 1,000 pages of documents in preparation for a June 13 hearing, and had also recently participated in a full-day deposition to prepare for it.

“I don’t know the exact reason (for the dismissal), but I assume they totally looked into it and didn’t find anything,” he said.

The dismissal notice states the Bar’s State Professional Responsibility Board had “good cause” to rescind the complaint. Good cause includes either new evidence or legal authority not known by the board at the time of the complaint that shows the board’s decision to file the complaint was incorrect. Bar spokeswomen could not be reached for comment.

The bar’s complaint specifically related to Sawyer’s relationship with Thomas Middleton Sr., for whom Albertazzi prepared a trust. Richard Braun, a Portland attorney representing Middleton’s three sons, brought the original complaint against Albertazzi to the Bar.

In 2006, Albertazzi represented Middleton as he created and executed estate documents, and in 2008 prepared the Middleton trust shortly before Middleton died by assisted suicide. Middleton invested at least $250,000 in a Sawyer company called Starboard LLC, and received monthly interest payments before his death. Middleton also put Sawyer in charge of overseeing his trust after his death; Albertazzi then represented Sawyer in her capacity as trustee.

After his death, Sawyer sold Middleton’s home for $202,000 in net proceeds, and bank records show Sawyer then put that money in Starboard’s bank account before transferring it to her other companies to pay personal and business debts.

The bar’s formal complaint alleged Albertazzi should have known Sawyer’s interests were adverse to Middleton’s desire that the trust be administered with sound fiduciary principles and for the ultimate benefit of his sons. It also alleges he knew she put the money into her own account against Middleton’s wishes, and that he knew Sawyer wasn’t properly managing the trust assets. But, the complaint states, he continued to represent Sawyer after discovering these facts.