By By Suzanne Monk/The Meridian Star
April 3, 2001
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Anderson Monday added Gianakos Associates to a short list of companies that did not document millions of dollars in American Express charges by former Comcast-Primestar executive David Colvin.
The other company, as established last week by a prosecution witness, was Comcast cable television.
The federal trial centers on charges owner Kim Gianakos and others defrauded Comcast of $2.6 million in a false billing scheme between January 1994 and August 1996.
Most of Monday's court action centered on the testimony of Jessica Cooper, Gianakos Associates' accountant since 1992. In general, neither the prosecution nor the defense was inclined to doubt the veracity of her testimony but the two sides interpreted that testimony differently.
Both sides seem to agree on a basic set of facts: 1) Gianakos Associates paid Colvin's American Express bill for a period of time; 2) initially, those invoices listed only "marketing" expenses and did not mention American Express; 3) after August 1995, those invoices referenced Colvin's name and the American Express account number; and 4) at no time, did they accurately reflect the itemized expenses charged on the card.