(AP) — The five-week fraud trial of Washington State Auditor Troy Kelley drew to a close Wednesday, with prosecutors calling it a "plain case of fraud and a cover-up" and the defense team describing it as a "disaster."
Kelley, the first Washington state official indicted in 35 years, stands accused of illegally pocketing $3 million in fees prosecutors say he should have refunded to homeowners when he ran a real-estate services business called Post Closing Department during the height of the housing boom before he was elected state auditor.
Frierson told jurors that Kelley's actions also included moving money among various accounts to hide the proceeds, asking Jerue to destroy company records, trying to pay off a homeowner who filed a lawsuit over the retained fees, and lying in civil litigation as well as on his taxes.
Prosecutors say to obtain business from the title companies — and get access to vast sums of money from homeowners — he promised that Post Closing Department would collect $100 to $150 for each transaction it tracked; keep $15 or $20 for itself; use some of the money to pay county recording and other fees if necessary; and refund the customer any remaining money.
The case boils down to a contract dispute that never should have been prosecuted criminally, Kelley's attorneys have argued, and while Kelley did refund some homeowners who complained, that was nothing more than good customer service akin to the generous return policy at Seattle-based Nordstrom department stores.
