People working for Daniel P. Reeve collected money to donate to the United Way that was never passed on to that organization, Linzie Brown testified Monday.
Brown did administrative work at DPR Financial, Reeve’s financial planning firm, beginning in 2007.
She’s also married to Reeve’s brother David.
Monday, it was her turn to take the stand at the trial of her brother-in-law, who has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.
She testified that she received numerous calls from “furious” investors, who weren’t seeing the returns on their investments that they were expecting.
Court also heard that while David Reeve was the president of the company, only Daniel P. Reeve was authorized to make major business decisions for the firm.
Brown’s testimony was brought into question by defence lawyer Mary Cremer, who suggested that Brown fabricated minutes of a meeting that she and the Reeve brothers held to discuss complaints from employees – a notion Brown called “ridiculous”.
“You are insulting my intelligence,” she said.
“I am of good character and I am an honest person.”
Brown testified that she has a fraud conviction on her record, stemming from personal use of a company credit card at a previous employer.
That record was not disclosed to DPR Financial, Brown said, adding that she had paid her debt to society by completing community service.
The trial was brought to a halt Monday afternoon, when Cremer told the judge that she needed time to seek independent legal advice.
The judge adjourned the trial until Tuesday morning, at which point Brown will remain on the stand.
After that, David Reeve is expected to be the next to testify.
Daniel P. Reeve is accused of defrauding 41 people out of about $10 million.
