San Diego

Nancy Hoover Hunter’s mother and aunt testified Thursday that Hunter did not warn them to close their J. David & Co. accounts as the La Jolla investment firm was being forced into bankruptcy.

Hunter’s mother, Virginia Holm, and aunt, Vivian Rubish, gave similar testimony concerning Hunter’s behavior during the two months before the February, 1984, collapse of J. David.

Holm said her daughter was not involved in the J. David fraud. “Absolutely not,” she said. “If she was, she would have had me get the money out, I’m sure.”

The two appeared as defense witnesses in Hunter’s 197-count fraud and tax-evasion trial. Their testimony was intended to bolster the defense contention that Hunter was unaware of the giant Ponzi scheme perpetrated by her former lover, J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for fraud.

Holm also testified that Dominelli had told her he had divorced his wife. Previous testimony has indicated that Dominelli promised Hunter on many occasions that he would divorce his wife, although he never did so.

Hunter left her husband at the time, George Hoover, to move in with Dominelli, with whom she shared a Rancho Santa Fe home until just after the collapse of J. David.

Rubish and Holm also testified about two meetings at which Dominelli assured family members that money they had invested was safe and would be returned.

Prosecutors allege that Hunter played an active role in the fraud that bilked about 1,200 people out of nearly $90 million. Her 5-month-old trial will resume Wednesday.