Sunday, July 3, 2011

AUDIO: Tom Petters Talking About Frank Vennes - What Vennes Knew and His Pardon

In a wire recording from September, 8, 2008, Government witness Deanna Coleman recorded Tom Petters talking about Frank Vennes. The money quotes:

Coleman: Frank knows that a lot of these are fake PO's, doesn't he?

Petters: No.

Coleman: Oh, doesn't he?

Petters: No, he just know a bunch of them are.

Petters also mentions that Vennes once described the office of Bob White who forged the fake purchase orders that were used to raise money for the Ponzi scheme as a "little paper manufacturing" plant. He also talks about how afraid Vennes was about the scheme going down and the "little old ladies" who invested in the Petters fraud through Vennes. Petters also says Vennes told him he would be saved from the consequences because he was going to get a pardon "next year".

This is an edited audio file. The complete audio file and transcript is on the MN DOJ website (Exhibit #377).

Listen: