JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One day after the head of a purported charity for poor children testified that former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown used donated funds as a personal slush fund, prosecutors spent the day following the money trail with testimony from Brown's tax preparer and an FBI forensic accountant.
The congresswoman's former chief of staff was expected to take the stand Tuesday to add more detail about the scheme, but his testimony was pushed back after prosecutors spent hours questioning other witnesses.
Ronnie Simmons and Brown were indicted together last summer, but Simmons pleaded guilty earlier this year and agreed to testify against his former boss. That testimony will likely come Wednesday. [Read Simmons' plea agreement]
FBI forensic accountant Kimberly Henderson spent most of the afternoon on the stand, using charts to show withdrawals from various accounts, including an account for One Door for Education, the bogus charity at the center of the government's case against Brown. Withdrawals were also made from Brown's campaign fund and from a Jacksonville charity, among others. Henderson testified that much of that money went into Brown's personal bank account.
The testimony on withdrawals and deposits was lengthy and included photos of Simmons at ATMs actually making withdrawals and deposits into the congresswoman’s account.
One example in Henderson's testimony was a $3,000 check with "Children's Summer Camp Program" written in the memo line that was deposited into the account of Brown's daughter, while the two were on a shopping trip on Rodeo Drive in California. Of that amount, $1,000 was then transferred into Brown's personal account.
DOCUMENT: Prosecutors' exhibit list (No. 45 A-Z entered during Henderson testimony)
Earlier in the day, Brown's tax preparer, Dawn Wright, testified that over three years -- from 2012 to 2015 -- Brown claimed she gave $24,500 to One Door for Education. But Wright said that Brown could not show receipts for those donations or for more than $25,000 in other contributions she claimed she made to churches and other charities.
Wright said she told Brown that documentation would be needed but that she took Brown's word about the contributions when filing the congresswoman's tax returns. The IRS could require receipts if Brown were to be audited.
Tax fraud is one of the charges Brown faces.
Carolyn Chatman, an old friend and staff member of Brown's, was also on the stand Tuesday and talked about how she helped with information to prepare Brown's taxes, including gathering some questionable receipts.
A courthouse observer who has been watching the trial every day told News4Jax on Tuesday that he didn't think prosecutors had connected all the dots yet.
Attorney Rhonda Peoples-Waters, who is not connected to the case, said questions remain, even after Tuesday's testimony.
"I believe what the government has definitely shown is horrible bookkeeping and accounting procedures," Peoples-Waters said. "Certainly, we are all troubled that there are not some receipts about that, but the issue is: Does that rise to the level of fraud and intent to defraud the government? And that is where the government is going to have to make sure that they back up (the testimony)."
Former federal prosecutor Curtis Fallgatter, who is now in private practice and defending one of the prosecution's witnesses who has yet to be called to the stand, said that the government has to prove that Brown knowingly lied about her charitable contributions when filing her taxes, beyond the FBI claiming that she did. He said that without proof, it's possible the tax fraud charges could be dropped.
"I'm not aware of a single witness that has taken the stand to say, 'Yes, she knew we weren't a charity.' Or, 'Yes, she knew we were cheating people. Yes, she knew we were not spending money and didn't give her any reports,'" Fallgatter said. "So that's the missing link that still remains in the case. Maybe Ronnie Simmons fills it. I tend to think not, because he's got a 40-page plea agreement where there's not one word where he says she knew those things.”