Federal prosecutors issue Beck about mysterious laptop or computer programmer

ATLANTA – Suspended Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck took the witness stand for a next working day in his federal fraud trial. Beck told jurors his testimony “is my very last possibility” to persuade them and the wider earth that federal investigators overlooked the truth of the matter in a misguided hurry to indict him.

Beck is accused of becoming the mastermind in a plan to steal more than $2.5 million from condition-made insurance plan enterprise Georgia Underwriting Affiliation. Beck managed GUA in advance of he took business as the state’s major insurance policies regulator in 2019. He was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, funds laundering and tax fraud months right after getting business.

Just after revealing the identify of a mysterious laptop or computer programmer on the stand on Tuesday throughout direct evaluation, it was the prosecution’s opportunity on Wednesday to try to get to the base of who the mysterious Jerry Jordan is.

SEE ALSO: Georgia’s Beck can take stand in federal fraud trial

Beck informed the court that he could not discover Jordan, a male who he known as a important witness and could clarify the huge sums of funds exchanged fingers involving Beck and his cousin, Matthew Barfield. Barfield testified past 7 days that, at Beck’s route, he established up his established up a corporation to bill GUA for residence inspections. He informed the jury that he considered Beck’s enterprise Imaginative Consulting did the precise inspections, he only did paperwork.

Beck testified on Tuesday a separate firm he controlled did genuine additional perform for GUA and told the jury he paid a computer system programmer he had satisfied at a cafe named Jerry Jordan substantial portions of dollars to compose application applications to skim house inspection info from general public databases.

He said he initially paid Jordan $40,000 in money. He reported, afterwards, he individually, manually entered the facts Jordan collected into GUA personal computers for about 3 decades.

SEE ALSO: Prosecutors rest in federal fraud demo of Georgia’s Beck

Beck explained to the jury that he acquired the go-in advance from the then-board chairman of GUA, John Houser, to generate a business to do house inspection study for GUA. But previously in the trial, Houser testified he realized absolutely nothing about any of Beck’s organizations.

The suspended insurance commissioner experienced no comment about Jordan’s id other than to explain to the FOX 5 I-Crew, “Y’all have a good working day,” as he entered the federal courthouse for his second day of testimony.

Through that testimony, Jerry Jordan’s identify stored popping up. Beck said Jordan had provided the pc brainpower to gather data that GUA applied to demand customers additional and cut the expenditures the assets insurer of previous resort compensated other people to share in its hazards. Those steps, Beck testified, assist remodel the point out-chartered insurance company from a persistent revenue-loser to a successful entity.

“The government’s principle of the scenario is predicated on there being a harm,” Beck reported. “In fact, there was a gain. So I would suggest to you, if there is no harm, there is no criminal offense.”

SEE ALSO: ‘I’ve normally reliable Jim’: Cousin of Georgia’s Beck talks to FOX 5 soon after testimony

But Beck admitted he did not know in which Jordan was, did not know the correct identify of Jordan’s firm, did not have a prepared agreement with Jordan, did not have the laptop computer laptop or computer Beck reported Jordan supplied him, didn’t even have a Jordan organization card. Beck mentioned he lost observe of Jordan after he moved “out West” to go after a lady he satisfied online. He stated he and his lawful group has searched for two yrs, but couldn’t obtain him.

“He is the solution behind the two Environmentally friendly Tech and Paperless,” Grey said, naming the two organizations prosecutors say Beck invented to embezzle revenue from his employer.

Beck also testified that he paid out Jordan in funds he had accumulated and stored in a security deposit box and at residence, describing why GUA-joined payments from Eco-friendly Technological innovation Solutions and Paperless Remedies by no means remaining his financial institution accounts.

“I agree with you it is strange, but at the end of the day I was paid out to do the operate and the function was performed,” Beck claimed of the funds payments he explained he built.

SEE ALSO: A few testify Georgia’s Beck directed cash flows from insurance provider

Beck admitted on cross-evaluation he experienced no evidence of any do the job he did with Jerry Jordan. No notebook, leap generate, email messages, or documents. Beck claimed it is because the company was running many years in the past and he did not maintain it.

Beck argued that the standard flaw in the circumstance is that FBI brokers concluded that “Jerry” only referred to Jerry Luquire of Columbus — Beck’s fellow Christian Coalition activist who died in 2014 — instead of believing there could have been a further Jerry. Beck testified that he met Jordan right after Luquire bumped into Jordan in a restaurant and introduced him to Beck.

“Every statement you acquire out of my mouth, you consider as a continuation of a lie, when it is a continuation of the reality,” Beck stated. “If people believe that you, I have been lying for 5 years.”

SEE ALSO: Fraud or innovation? Sights clash in trial of Georgia’s Beck

Gray focused, in the close, not on Beck’s intended partnership with Jordan, but on e-mails that Beck wrote posing as Matt Barfield, the man who well prepared the invoices for Environmentally friendly Technological know-how Services, which gathered payments from GUA and a partner-and-spouse set of contractors to GUA.

“We’re chatting about no matter whether you explain to the truth,” Gray said, in questioning why Beck wrote e-mail signing his identify as “Matt,” with “Matt” even at 1 level including Beck in correspondence.

“It did not trouble me since I was conducting business on a domain names I owned and email messages I owned,” Beck mentioned.

Grey drilled Beck on why he under no circumstances instructed GUA staff or some of his contractors that he experienced a financial fascination in the function. Beck testified he bought much more than 10% of the revenue paid by GUA, and in some instances substantially much more.

“The money arrangement was not pertinent to the function,” Beck testified. “I have a lot of close friends I really do not explore my financial arrangements with.”

SEE ALSO: Trial begins for suspended Ga insurance plan commissioner

Beck stated people close friends turned on him and testified for the prosecution since they have been intimidated by the federal investigation and jumped to the improper conclusion.

“People today do what people today do when the federal authorities starts knocking on their doorway, and in some cases they put two and two together and get 6,” Beck stated.

Gray, in the course of the hours of cross-assessment, recurring around and around to the jury, “I guess we’ll have to just take your word for it”

Beck at situations acquired testy through his testimony attacking the authorities, the FBI, expressing they obtained caught up in their possess narrative and didn’t choose the situation significantly adequate and at one particular stage stated, “The wheels arrived off this investigation.” And at 1 position he seemed up at the prosecutor and mentioned, “Mr. Grey, I never think you have an understanding of the insurance policy industry.” Gray responded, “I never possibly feel I will ever understand what you are declaring.”

Much more testimony is expected on Thursday.

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The Connected Push contributed to this report