The fraud trial of financier Daniel P. Reeve resumed Monday following a four-month break.
Reeve has pleaded not guilty to a number of fraud-related charges, relating to allegations that he bilked 41 investors out of about $10 million.
Monday’s testimony came from Caroline Hillyard, a forensic accountant taking the stand as a Crown witness.
Hillyard backed up the numbers behind Reeve’s alleged fraud, saying her analysis of financial documents related to the case showed that 41 people got back about $10 million less than they invested with Reeve.
However, she said that any fraudulent activity may not have ended there – and that there may be “150 to 200 other potential victims” of Reeve.
Court heard that one investor gave Reeve $150,000, but only recovered about $20,000 of that amount.
Rather than being invested, Hillyard testified, most of the rest went to corporate expenses and to other investors.
Hillyard also said that between 2007 and 2009, Reeve’s companies spent $264,000 on travel and accommodations, $148,000 on entertainment, and more than $100,000 on vehicles.
During that period, court heard, Reeve was paid nearly $700,000, while his former wife – who is not facing any charges in connection with the case – was paid $2.37 million.
Defence lawyers say they will call a different forensic accountant as a witness. That accountant is expected to criticize some of the accounting methods Hillyard used in her audit of the Reeve companies.
