Day four of jury deliberations passed Tuesday with no verdict in the Tom Petters fraud case.
The jury has spent 24 1/2 hours weighing evidence in an effort to determine whether Petters is guilty of the 20 charges he faces in relation to a Ponzi scheme that allegedly bilked $3.65 billion from investors.
There is a mountain of government evidence before the jury, including financial documents, thousands of e-mails and 2 1/2 weeks' worth of secretly recorded conversations between Petters and his associates, which may explain the jury's measured pace with the case.
There also is defense evidence designed to show that the Wayzata businessman was himself the victim of a fraud perpetrated by his colleagues at Petters Co. Inc. and by some business associates in the Twin Cities, California and Illinois.
Jurors will resume deliberations Wednesday. They received the case Nov. 30 and took a three-day recess for Thanksgiving.
Petters faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Meantime, Palm Beach Finance Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday, claiming losses of more than $1 billion as a result of the alleged Petters fraud. The investment firm joins Lancelot Investment Management of Northbrook, Ill., which filed for bankruptcy in Chicago last year claiming Petters-related losses of $1.5 billion.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report. David Phelps • 612-673-7269
