Shields trial opens, and defense team blames ‘scam artists’
By MARK MORRISThe Kansas City Star
Raymond Zwego, a con man now cooperating with prosecutors, drew repeated fire Monday from defense lawyers at the federal mortgage fraud trial of former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields.
It was Zwego who drew his unwitting clients into a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender of $1.2 million in the sale of their home, said attorney Curtis Woods, who represents Shields and her husband, Philip Cardarella.
“This case is not about Katheryn Shields or her husband, Philip Cardarella,” Woods said in his opening statement. “It’s about Raymond Zwego and a band of scam artists who cut a swath through Kansas City. The last people they tried to use were Katheryn Shields and Phil Cardarella.
“They’re not conspirators in this case. They were used by Raymond Zwego.”
Zwego pleaded guilty Friday to masterminding the fraud scheme that ensnared Shields and Cardarella. He also has prior convictions for federal wire and bank fraud and making false statements and figures to be an important witness in the government’s case against the couple.
A prosecutor did not try to sugarcoat Zwego’s unsavory business dealings.
“He is a skilled and practiced perpetrator of fraud,” said assistant U.S. attorney Gene Porter.
The opening statements marked the latest act in a drama that began with the indictment of Shields, Cardarella and nine others in January. Thus far, seven defendants have pleaded guilty.
Porter said evidence would show that Shields, her husband and two other remaining defendants were as much a part of the conspiracy as those who already had pleaded guilty.
“The evidence in this case will convince you that each one of these defendants made false representations to a lender for their own financial benefit,” Porter said.
Porter also revealed that the investigation began in October 2006 when a real estate appraiser called an FBI agent to say that an appraisal he had been asked perform raised red flags. At that time, the sales contract was for $1.47 million, while the home was listed for sale at $699,000, the appraiser said.
The agent, Julia Jensen, recognized the names of the buyers — Larry Barshaw and Linda Thompson-Barshaw — as having ties to Zwego, who already was under FBI scrutiny. Jensen then enlisted the appraiser to help with the investigation.
Also Monday, attorneys representing the lesser-known figures in the case defended their clients as well.
Jeff Morris, a lawyer representing Monty Kinman, a loan officer at an Overland Park firm, said his client did nothing illegal.
“For Monty Kinman, this case is about a home loan, a con man and doing his job,” Morris said. “The evidence will demonstrate that the government has missed the mark.”
An attorney representing Rick Peterson, the closing agent on the deal, pointed out that his client was to receive only about $200 for closing the sale of Shields’ property. Peterson merely was following instructions sent to him by the lender, Fieldstone Mortgage in Overland Park.
“Every penny was shown to Fieldstone before the loan was approved,” said defense lawyer Robin Fowler.
The trial resumes this morning with the prosecution’s first witness.
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