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The Tom Petters fraud case

Petters case: Lawyers get last words Monday

Last update: November 20, 2009

This largest fraud trial in the history of Minnesota -- and one of the largest in the United States -- wrapped up testimony Friday with defendant Tom Petters laying the blame for the mammoth Ponzi scheme squarely on the shoulders of the woman who reported his alleged crimes to authorities.

Petters is charged with running a fraud scheme that bilked $3.65 billion over more than a decade, making it one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, though it pales by comparison with the scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff, a New York investment adviser serving a 150-year prison term for running a Ponzi scheme in which he was accused of swindling tens of billions of dollars.

Petters told Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Dixon that the government raid on his Minnetonka headquarters and Wayzata home in September 2008 was unnecessary. Had federal agents waited, Petters said, he would have found out who was responsible for the fraud and "we would have opened our doors" to authorities.

Said Dixon: "You're saying that the raid was unnecessary and you were misunderstood?"

"To this day I'd say that," Petters replied.

Answering questions from defense attorney Jon Hopeman, Petters said that when he found out Deanna Coleman, an executive with Petters Co. Inc. (PCI), was operating a fraud, "I thought either she was mentally ill, or something was severely wrong. ... I was dumbfounded. I knew at that moment we had a very, very, very large problem."

Coleman told federal authorities Petters used PCI to run a Ponzi scheme for more than a decade to fund his other companies and extravagant lifestyle. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case and hopes her cooperation will garner leniency when she is sentenced.

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The Star Tribune's coverage of the federal fraud case against entrepreneur Tom Petters and the struggles of Petters-owned Sun Country Airlines.

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In the main event of Tom Petters' fraud trial, the defendant mostly bobbed and weaved as the prosecutor went bare knuckles.

Tom Petters Fraud Case

Petters takes the stand, apologizes

Petters apologizes for losses, but denies running a Ponzi scheme.

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