Wayzata businessman Tom Petters faces up to life in prison if convicted of running a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme as the government alleges. The trial could last six weeks.
Petters' defense team says his associates devised the fraud without his knowledge, then turned on him in an effort to save themselves.
Wednesday: The judge seated a jury of 10 women and six men, four of whom will serve as alternates. Both sides presented opening statements.
Thursday: The first witnesses in the case, two General Electric Capital employees in Chicago and a couple of Costco employees, began to lay the groundwork for the prosecution's allegation that Petters' frauds go back a decade or more, and that he directed the alleged Ponzi scheme.
Today: A partner at a Minneapolis investment firm describes how Petters was always in a hurry to do a deal, but balked when told that the firm wanted to inspect the merchandise he says would secure its $60 million investment. Deanna Coleman, the longtime Petters executive and confidante who took her story about fraud to federal authorities 13 months ago, is scheduled as a witness today. But with the proceedings scheduled to adjourn at 2 p.m., she likely won't take the stand until Monday.
