Poulsen Witness Tampering Defense: It Was All A Misunderstanding

In opening statements on Tuesday in the witness tampering trial of former National Century Financial Enterprises CEO and co-founder Lance Poulsen and his associate Karl Demmler (earlier), the defense sought to portray Poulson’s $500,000 offer to former Executive VP for compliance Sherry Gibson as a misunderstanding. According to defense attorney Peter Anderson, Poulsen only sought to “make her whole” because she had gone to prison and given up her assets in her plea deal. And according to Demmler’s attorney Darryl Parker, Demmler was the intermediary because he was a longtime friend of Gibson and was only urging her to use the money to get a new attorney. However, Gibson took the stand on Tuesday afternoon and testified that she construed the initial offer as a bribe, contacted the government and agreed to wear a wire at future meetings with Demmler. The jury heard tapes in which Demmler offered to set Gibson up with an offshore account for a 10% fee if she took Poulsen’s offer and told her ” “Money laundering is my business on private contracts.” And regarding the testimony she was to give in Poulsen’s now-delayed fraud trial, Demmler said “Don’t remember. You don’t have to lie. You’re not lying. He’s not asking you to lie” and referred to a scene in Godfather II where a witness forgets testimony. The government also has taped conversations between Poulsen and Demmler in which they allegedly used code words in case their phones were bugged. Poulson is expected to take the stand in his own defense. Gibson’s testimony in the recently completed fraud trial of five other National Century executives (earlier) also included testimony implicating Poulsen in the fraud. Columbus Business First here and here.