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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > August > 17
Monday, August 17, 2009
Closing arguments: Rogers, Smith “bamboozled’ Dynus owner, others
“There’s a lot of smoke,” defense attorney Martin Pinales said about the charges against his client in federal court, “but there is no fire.
The prosecution fell short, Pinales said in his closing argument today, Aug. 17, in proving that former Dynus owner Orlando Carter was involved in schemes to defraud banks to get a home loan and $6.5 million in illicit loans in Butler County’s name.
So who was behind it? “Kay Rogers and Jim Smith got together and concocted something,” Pinales said.
Rogers, former county auditor, and Smith, former Dynus president, both pleaded guilty to bank fraud for their roles in the loans.
“Kay Rogers, an integral part of this case, was not brought in in this courtroom,” Pinales said. “If Kay Rogers had anything bad to say about Orlando Carter…if she corroborated, if she agreed with and told the same story that Jim Smith told, she would have been right there talking to you.”
In earlier testimony, Smith said Carter was intimately aware of the loans.
Pinales argued that the prosecution is making connections that don’t exist, then pumping the courtroom full of smoke — focusing on the grandeur of Carter’s house, the anger of a respected civic leader — to obscure the facts.
He portrayed Carter as yet another victim of Smith, along with banks that relied on his misrepresentations of business he brought into the company. It was Smith who forged a contract with West Chester Twp.; Smith who lied to county leaders about the existence of the loan; Smith who said he bribed Rogers.
“The missing in action Kay Rogers and Jim Smith the liar put this together and bamboozled the fifth largest financial institution in the nation (National City),” he said. “And Kay Rogers and Jim Smith bamboozled Orlando Carter.”
Because Carter believed the Butler County deal was legitimate — and so did others — he continued borrowing money from Fifth Third Bank that the bank lost when the company collapsed in October. 2005, Pinales said.
As for the phony home loan documents, Pinales said he instructed others to fill out the paperwork for him, and wasn’t aware they couldn’t be trusted to follow the law.
There is nothing, Pinales said, directly implicating Carter in any of the 11 charges against him that he pleaded not guilty to.
“That is why they brought in all of these other things to try to turn you against Orlando Carter, in an effort to cover up a lack of evidence,” Pinales said. “It is clear that the government has failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you must return a verdict of not guilty.”
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Closing arguments: Dynus owner ‘lied’
“He lied to you,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennfier Barry told a jury in federal court today, Aug. 17, about former Dynus. Corp. owner Orlando Carter.
“The evidence has exposed the truth about Orlando Carter and all his lies,” she said.
Barry’s closing arguments today come at the end of a three-week trial that included Carter taking the stand in his own defense for two days last week.
He testified he knew nothing of fake documents used to inflate his income so he could buy a $1.2 million mansion; fraudulent bank loans his company took out in Butler County’s name totaling $6.5 million; and false statements on his bankruptcy petition.
Barry characterized Carter’s defense as “an insult to (the jury’s) common sense,” and running contrary to the testimony of bank officials and company employees.
“It’s his house,” she said of Carter’s assertion that company employees filled out the fraudulent loan application. “They don’t live in the mansion, he lives in the mansion.”
Barry said Carter was fully aware company president Jim Smith — who Carter said kept him “in the dark” — was forging documents, hiring local politicians to “grease the skids” and promising National City Bank Dynus would return $4 million if it couldn’t secure proof of a non-existent deal with Butler County.
The $6.5 million the company borrowed from National City accounted for half of Dynus’ worth, she said. “This was the biggest deal for Dynus, the Butler County deal, and he claims to know nothing about it?”
In the meantime, she said, he was draining the company, spending $360,000 as a down payment for his home, renting a $180,000 suite at Paul Brown Stadium and going on a $10,000 Disney cruise.
“It (Dynus) was his personal piggy bank, and he was going to take every last penny,” she said.
As a result, National City, Fifth Third Bank and prominent Cincinnati businessman Ross Love all lost millions of dollars. And roughly 60 Dynus employees lost their jobs, “because they took the defendant at his word.”
“Where do the lies end? Right here. Right now. With you. Tell the defendant that his lies end with you, that you aren’t going to be victims of his fraud,” she said, asking them to find him guilty of an 11-count indictment.
Carter’s defense attorneys will make their closing arguments later this afternoon.
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Dixon: Financial storm’s a-brewin’
Just in time for hurricane season, Butler County commissioner Donald Dixon says there’s a Category 5 financial storm headed for county coffers.
And, a newly formed group of office holders, department heads and county business leaders (led by Dixon and Domestic Relations Judge Sharon Kennedy) say there’s no boards on the windows, no food or water rationed and no plan in place for clean-up once it blows through.
An excerpt:
In a budget crisis, Butler County commissioners have two traditional choices: Enact sweeping cuts that could affect services, or use up cash reserves.
The latter option could leave them unable to cut payroll checks as early as the end of the first quarter and jeopardize their ability to borrow money for important projects, according to county finance officials.
But a newly formed group says there’s a third option: Drastic overhaul, cutting what they say is a budget that has grown bloated and unwieldy.
A national recession has — as with everyone else — brought the county to its financial knees. Revenues are down nearly $10 million — or approximately 10 percent of the county’s budget — from last year’s levels.
Officeholders are still struggling with nearly $2.6 million in cuts commissioners approved last month with a contentious 2-1 vote. Those cuts slashed the Board of Elections budget by 13.5 percent, and forced layoffs of sheriff’s deputies and court staff, among other areas.
The Budget Work Group, consisting of department heads, elected officials and county business leaders, says that was merely a stop-gap.
“That was taking a 2,000-pound grizzly bear and poking him in the eye with a stick,” said Commission President Donald Dixon, who voted against the July 16 cuts.
They want reform.
The story thus far has received a good deal of feedback, and Josh and I intend on addressing some of the questions posed in subsequent comments.
Here’s one, by “J.B.” on Aug. 16:
Just curious but who exactly is serving on this “work Group”? I think that’s an important thing the Journal needs to print or find out. I’m tired of only getting half of the story. I’m glad to see Mr. Dixon finally admitted he is in denial about budgets. That makes more sense when he votes to approve a half million in spending in December 2008 and then votes to kill the spending 7 months later. Denial would also explain why he would blame everyone else for this or is that projection?.
Response: As stated in the story, the group is made up of office holders, such as Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter, Treasurer Nancy Nix, Auditor Roger Reynolds, Dixon, Kennedy and others; department heads, such as Finance Director Bob Lowery, Budget and Management Director Pete Landrum and others; and area business leaders like Ed Dwyer from U.S. Bank.
These are public meetings. And if either of the other commissioners attend, the meeting would need to be publicized at least 24 hours in advance because of the existence of a quorum.
Another question from a reader:
Where does Dixon come up with some of these numbers and statements? Who’s in denial? It was the other two commissioners that made the $2.6 million in cuts, Dixon voted no, because it cut his girl friend’s budget 13.5 percent. Name some names Dixon, who is getting a 7% raise? The HJN should check these’s statements and numbers and call him on them before you publish them. You make it seem this nut knows what he is talking about.
Response: A sampling of previous stories about commissioners’ concern with automatic pay increases can be read here, here and here.
What other questions/comments do you have?
