Opening statements made in fraud case
By: By Meghan Backus
Updated: March 17, 2008
The trial has begun in the case of a tax assessment scheme. This almost three years after the first arrest was made. Prosecutor says the three defendants duped Kodak and Greece town taxpayers.
Former commercial appraiser, John Nicolo; his wife, Constance Roeder; and former Kodak Executive David Finnman have been indicted on 56 counts, including charges of plotting schemes to defraud, money laundering and tax fraud.
Prosecutors were first to make opening statements to the 15-person jury Monday morning.
“We started the trial finally, and now we're ready to present our case,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Resnik.
The prosecution told the jury they will present evidence that Nicolo, Finnman and former Greece town assessor Charles Schwab were in cahoots. In one of several schemes, attorneys say Nicolo negotiated with Schwab to lower tax assessments for Kodak between 2002 and 2005. In return, Nicolo allegedly received a fee and distributed it between Finnman and Schwab.
Nicolo allegedly paid his wife with money from one of the alleged schemes, and prosecuters say she did not file the income on her taxes.
Schwab pleaded guilty to the charges at the end of February. Mark Camarata, who took Finnman’s tax accountant position at Kodak when he left in 1999, and Richard Ackerman, an appraiser, have also pleaded guilty in the case. They are expected to be key witnesses for the prosecution.
Defense attorneys say Camarata has a history of lying, adding Camarata might not be truthful on the stand in an effort to save himself some prison time.
“I think if Mark testifies honestly, he'll testify he doesn't think Finnman was trying to cheat Kodak because it's just not dave,” said Finnman’s attorney, Matthew Lembke. “If he tells the truth, which is highly unlikely, that's what he would say.”
"I don't want to vouch for the credibility of any witness or anything thing like that,” Resnik said. “We will proceed at trial, calling our witnesses and presenting our evidence to try to prove the charges against the defendants in this case.”
The trial is expected to go on for at least six weeks.
