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Defendant’s brother tells of gambling

Rome News-Tribune, USA
Jan. 29, 2005
Lauren Gregory, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer
news.mywebpal.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Sunday January 30, 2005

IRS special agent begins her testimony
The prosecution hopes to rest its case in the federal church fraud trial Monday.

Abraham Kennard gambled away a chunk of the $9 million he is accused of stealing from 1,600 churches across the country, his brother testified in federal court Friday morning.

Alvin Jasper, Kennard’s brother and former co-defendant, told Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Phillips that he met up with Kennard at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, where both lost “a lot of money” at the slot machines.

Prosecutors contend the money came from a multi-million-dollar advance-fee fraud scheme Kennard orchestrated through his company, Network International Investment Corporation.

Kennard allegedly promised $500,000 in grants or forgivable loans for every $3,000 in membership fees organizations paid him upfront. Only one out of 1,609 organizations that joined NIIC received the money they requested, prosecutors said.

Jasper was implicated in the scheme for allegedly using his company, A. Jeffrey Transportation, to help Kennard launder the money taken in through NIIC. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering before the case went to trial.

According to prosecutors, Jasper’s company was a shell operation created for Kennard’s benefit. Testimony from Jasper on Friday corroborated that assertion.

Jasper testified he never purchased the tractor-trailers he would need to start his transportation business. However, he did set up two bank accounts in his company’s name, both of which he used to deposit and cash checks at Kennard’s direction.

Records presented by prosecutors Friday afternoon indicate Kennard also used Dalton attorney Scott Cunningham’s escrow account to launder NIIC profits.

Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Sarah Kull testified that about $8.8 million was deposited in Cunningham’s account between Jan. 17, 2002, and Sept. 16, 2002.

Kennard paid Cunningham — who will go to trial separately — more than $400,000, Kull said. Cunningham continued to receive thousands of dollars from Kennard even after Oct. 11, 2002, the date federal agents sent a letter warning Cunningham to cease business with Kennard while they investigated NIIC.

The trial in Rome will stretch into its fourth week Monday at 9:30 a.m. when prosecutors will continue questioning Kull. They hope to wrap up their case by the end of the day.