The case of a down-on-his luck real estate developer who allegedly took part in a “get-rich-fast” scheme, defrauding people of thousands of dollars, went to a Clark County jury Friday evening.
After a week of trial in Clark County Superior Court Judge John Nichols’ courtroom, jurors heard closing arguments late in the day and were sent home before beginning deliberations. They will return Monday to decide Roddy K. Kartchner’s fate.
The 53-year-old Vancouver man is charged with 17 counts of theft-related crimes, including identity theft, forgery and money laundering, relating to a money-wiring scheme, similar to a Nigerian scam, he allegedly took part in from 2008 to 2009.
While the prosecution alleges there is clear evidence that Kartchner was part of a scheme involving a number of co-conspirators throughout the world, his defense attorney argues his client was simply naive in thinking the scam was a legitimate business venture.
“What he did was stupid. Stupid,” said his Portland attorney Adam Dean. “Was it criminal? No.”
Senior Deputy Prosecutor John Fairgrieve said the case started when Kartchner, a construction and real estate developer, was suffering bad business and was low on money, so he started dabbling in “get-rich-quick” schemes over the Internet. After losing between $80,000 and $90,000 in the schemes, he began a new venture, Fairgrieve said. This scheme had others illegally transfering money from other people’s bank accounts to Kartchner’s credit cards.
He did this by promising the people proceeds of the money allegedly stolen, Fairgrieve said.
“He’s the bad guy,” the deputy prosecutor said. “He’s at the end of the transaction.”
Then, he persuaded acquaintances and friends to make him unsecured personal loans while promising substantial returns on the loans, but never paid them back, Fairgrieve said.
Sheriff’s investigators were alerted to the case in February 2009, when a Bank of America official called to report that Karchner had tried to deposit a $470,000 check into a newly set up account. The check was found to be forged, Fairgrieve said.
Kartchner also tried to deposit an $80,000 check allegedly from a surgeon in California. When contacted by police, the surgeon said he hadn’t sent the check and didn’t know Kartchner.
“This keeps getting crazier,” Fairgrieve said.
Then, after his arrest, Fairgrieve said Kartchner was heard in a taped jail conversation with his wife, telling her to hide his briefcases containing important documents. He is charged with tampering with physical evidence in connection to that incident.
In rebuttal, defense attorney Dean emphasized that the case hinged on intent: Was Kartchner just a naive person who both fell victim and participated in Nigerian scams, believing they were legitimate ways to get rich?
He belittled his client, repeatedly calling him stupid and unreasonable.
“He put himself in a position to be victimized,” Dean said. “Did he have the intent to victimize anyone else? Absolutely not.”
Dean also picked apart the state’s case, questioning why they didn’t seek an “audit trail” of the money and go after the people who wired the money to Kartchner. At a recess, Fairgrieve explained that it was because the co-conspirators were all over the world, but officers had enough probable cause to arrest Kartchner when he came to the bank with the fraudulent check.
Dean said his client’s ignorance in allowing people to simply drop large sums of money in his bank account, as ridiculous as it may seem, is the only explanation.
“He thought he was going to be a millionaire,” he said. “He truly thought that.”
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
