Opening Statements Given in Fraud Trial

Frank Boyd Cockrell II is more than a white-collar criminal who bilked investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, evaded taxes, and laundered money, a prosecutor said in opening statements Wednesday.

He is a man who hid his assets to avoid paying child support to his ex-wife, and used duped investors’ money to pay for his lavish lifestyle--including a chauffeur, a gardener, lingerie for his new wife, and a $3-million home in the Hollywood Hills, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis said.

And when his elaborate facade of false businesses threatened to crumble, Aveis said, Cockrell tried to hire someone to blow up the Ventura County courthouse and all the evidence against him.

Judge Vincent J. O’Neill ruled earlier this month that the bombing evidence would be allowed into this trial because it shows consciousness of guilt in that Cockrell was allegedly trying to destroy the securities fraud evidence and keep his case from going to trial.

“This is a case about stocks, lies and audiotape,” Aveis began. “We will show that defendant Frank Cockrell lied for seven years about his finances . . . to obtain money from individuals and use it, the loss of which was $1.7 million.”

So began opening statements in the securities fraud trial that is one of the largest white-collar crime cases in county history.

Cockrell, 49, faces 24 counts, including charges of tax evasion, grand theft and money laundering.

He will face separate charges in Los Angeles County of attempted murder and solicitation to commit murder in the alleged bombing plot. That trial is scheduled to begin after this one ends.

The fraud case, which could take two to three months, is being tried in Ventura County because several of the investors live there and because the money obtained from all the investors flowed through Ventura County bank accounts.

In his opening statements, defense attorney Ed Whipple rebutted some incidents and attempted to provide a motive for others.

He said Cockrell did not file his state tax returns for four years at the behest of his financial advisor.

He said many of Cockrell’s investors had sufficient experience to protect themselves and that they signed papers to that effect.

And he said that when Cockrell set up numerous corporations, his intent was not to bilk investors, but to build legitimate businesses.

Finally, Whipple said his client thought the Ventura County district attorney’s office was masterminding a conspiracy to kill him and destroy his businesses.

“Since 1991, my client has been of the opinion that he has been persecuted and conspired against by the district attorney’s office,” Whipple said. “And he believed a number of people, including his ex-wife, were part of that conspiracy.”