Former Orcas teacher Grellet-Tinner files a civil suit against his past power of attorney

Gerald Grellet-Tinner has filed a complaint about money judgment and restitution of real property against Akarya Ahimsa Y. Rehnquist. Both live on Orcas Island.

The claim was filed in San Juan County Superior Court against five John Doe defendants and Rehnquist, who also goes by the names of Dr. Yvette Rehnquist, Dr. Akarya Kumar Ahimsa, Akarya K. Ahimsa, Akarya Kumar, Akarya Kumar Ayyar, Akarya Rehnquist, Akarya E.Y. Rehnquist and Erica Y. Becoat.

Grellet-Tinner alleges that Rehnquist stole money from him as his power of attorney while he was in prison.

A jury found 59-year-old Grellet-Tinner guilty of two counts of Sexual Misconduct in the First Degree in late June 2016. He was accused of having a sexual relationship with one of his students, who was also his teaching assistant, in October 2015. According to the Washington state legislature, a teacher cannot have intercourse with a registered student under the age of 21 if he or she is at least five years older than the student. The student, in this case, was 19 at the time of the sexual relationship.

The motion to dismiss the conviction of the former Orcas High School teacher, after allegations of misconduct from a lead investigator on the case, was granted. Grellet-Tinner’s new trial is set for May 30.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 17 regarding the plaintiff’s motion for discovery and sanctions against Rehnquist. Grellet-Tinner is being represented by Lawrence Delay of Friday Harbor. Delay declined to comment on anything that wasn’t in the court documents; Rehnquist declined to comment as well.

In July 2016, while incarcerated in the Island County Jail in Coupeville, Grellet-Tinner reached an agreement with Rehnquist in which she would oversee his finances and pay his bills. On July 6, he says he unknowingly signed a power of attorney document that gave Rehnquist more control than they had discussed. He says it gave her “a wide range of powers over my property, including the power to deed my real property. I signed the document by mistake; I assumed I had signed the limited power of attorney that we had discussed.” Grellet-Tinner says he did not have his eyeglasses with him when he was removed from his jail cell to sign the paperwork with Rehnquist.

On July 7, he says Rehnquist withdrew $1,000 from his Islanders Bank account; $20,000 on July 11, and $84,000 on July 14. On July 19, Rehnquist quit-claim-deeded the house into her name; in mid-December, she quitclaimed it back to Grellet-Tinner after “multiple requests from me and my counsel,” wrote Grellet-Tinner in court documents. He purchased the house and land in Rosario in December 2012, using money loaned to him by his mother. A few weeks later, his then-wife Alessandra Higa disclaimed any interest in the property. In October 2014 she filed a dissolution of marriage against him.

Grellet-Tinner says that of the $105,000 withdrawn from his bank account by Rehnquist, she distributed it for him in the following ways: $13,000 to creditors; $2,000 to the roofer who worked on his residence; $2,000 to his divorce lawyer in South Dakota; $50,000 to his mother; and $22,000 in cash left in his home. He alleges that leaves a balance of $16,000 owed to him.

Grellet-Tinner was released from jail and returned home on Sept. 21. Amongst the papers on his floor, he discovered a quitclaim deed that transferred his property over to Rehnquist. She later reversed the transfer in December of 2016, but Grellet-Tinner alleges, “She took thousands of dollars of my funds as well as items of my personal property, which I seek to have returned to me through this lawsuit.” He also alleges that she canceled payees on his bank account, thus preventing his creditors from being paid.

“After I returned to my home I also discovered items of my personal property to be missing,” according to his statement. “Their value totaled about $6,000 (including among other items, a Cuisinart, mixer, espresso machine, iPod, skin laser and mountain bike). I requested Ms. Rehnquist to return these items, but with no result.”

– Hayley Day and Cali Bagby contributed to this article.