Realtor on Stand in Wynn Case : Kidnaping: Longtime friend tells of prime suspect Ray Cuddy’s purchase of $20,000 watch and attempt to buy $200,000 Ferarri. FBI found $500,000 in ransom money in witness’s garage.

Ray Cuddy bought a $20,000 watch, schemed over the cash purchase of a $200,000 car and hid $500,000 in ransom money in the garage of a longtime friend following the Kevin Wynn kidnaping, a witness testified.

Cuddy has been identified by the government as the ringleader in the July 26 kidnaping of the daughter of casino mogul Steve Wynn. Kevin Wynn was released unharmed two hours after her father paid a $1.45-million ransom.

The government contends Cuddy went on a spending binge in Newport Beach, Calif., while his two alleged associates in the crime, Jacob Sherwood and Anthony Watkins, gave out thousands of dollars in $100 bills to friends in their hometown of Sacramento.

The second week of the high-profile trial began Monday with the government producing a key witness, California realtor Spyro Kemble. He told of his dealings with Cuddy, his longtime friend, in the days following the kidnaping.

The FBI found $500,000 of the ransom money in Kemble’s garage among boxes Cuddy had stored at the Newport Beach home.

The $500,000 was introduced as evidence Monday, displayed in five clear plastic bags.

Kemble said he had known Cuddy since 1980, and had loaned him more than $20,000 in the past three years. He said Cuddy had obtained a $500,000 judgment in a lawsuit, and was emotionally devastated when the award was reversed on appeal.

Kemble testified he received a call from Cuddy on July 27, and met him at a Newport import car dealership.

He said Cuddy told him: “Our ship has come in.”

Kemble said he understood the remark to mean “the lawsuit was finally over; Ray had received his money.”

Cuddy planned to pay cash for a $200,000 Ferarri, Kemble said, until the dealer informed him he would have to file certain forms with the government.

“He felt uncomfortable, and sought an alternative plan,” Kemble testified.

Kemble said Cuddy was “obsessed” with the white Ferarri and had talked of buying it when he settled his lawsuit.

“That auto represented vindication to Ray,” the friend testified.

Kemble said Cuddy began opening checking accounts at different banks for $9,000 to $9,500 each--staying below the $10,000 cash deposits that would require reporting to the federal government.

Cuddy also talked to a broker about depositing funds in the Cayman Islands, but dropped the idea when he learned the company would investigate the source of his funds.

Kemble said he was not suspicious of the sudden cache of $100 bills because of the claim of the lawsuit settlement and Cuddy’s penchant for dealing in cash.

Asked about receiving a lawsuit settlement in cash, Kemble said Cuddy “just smiled.”

“Ray had always dealt in cash his entire life,” Kemble said.

Kemble said Cuddy owed him $20,000 but gave him $35,000, which was to include a loan until some real estate transactions closed.

Kemble said Cuddy went on a spending spree in Newport Beach, paying $20,000 for a watch, $2,900 for two men’s suits, “in excess of $2,000 or $3,000” for cowboy boots and a belt made out of ostrich skin, and $3,000 for a designer suit for Kemble’s fiancee. All the items were purchased with $100 bills.

Kemble said FBI agents questioned him more than a dozen times about his relationship with Cuddy, in which he denied having anything to do with the kidnaping or having any prior knowledge of the crime.