After just a single day of jury selection and only a few days of witness and expert testimony, the Joel Wilson trial began to wind down, and in closing arguments, both the prosecution and the defense explained to the court their respective positions.
The prosecution summed up for the jury why they believe Wilson is guilty of stealing millions of dollars from his investors, and should be sentenced to prison. According to Assistant Michigan Attorney General Norm Donker, Wilson took $30,000 out of a business account and used it to purchase a beauty parlor for his wife.
Wilson also repeatedly assured investors that their money was safe and being well invested in ways that would very likely see great profit, even though his company was in severe debt and he knew that he could never make good on his offers and promises.
Joel Wilson’s Tactics an Example of Ponzi Scheme
Using income from new investors to pay old investors is a tried and true example of a ponzi scheme and, according to the prosecution, this is exactly what Wilson did. In addition to using company money for personal use, lying to his investors, misrepresenting his financial solvency, he used some investor’s money to pay others. For these reasons, says the prosecutor, Wilson deserves to pay a high price.
But defense attorney Matthew S. Kolodziejski disagrees. Yes, Wilson may have poor money management skills, and yes he may have invested badly and his business may have failed, but he is not a criminal.
According to the defense, Wilson was a pillar of his community. He donated to charity, created jobs for many people in the area, and was involved in bettering the lives of many people. He may have made mistakes but he is not a criminal, he is just a businessman whose plan didn’t work out the way he anticipated it would.
Kolodziejski also pointed out what he felt were flaws in the prosecution’s case. For example, he asked why only six of the almost 120 investors were asked to testify, and reminded the jury that although there had been talk of forged signatures on documents, no proof had ever been found to back this theory up.
After the prosecution’s rebuttal, Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran sent the jury out to deliberate on what, if any, charges Wilson will be convicted on. Wilson is currently facing two counts of fraudulent sale of securities, two counts of sale of unregistered securities, a single count of continuing a criminal enterprise or racketeering, and a single count of larceny by conversion $20,000 or more.
For now, everything lies in the hands of the jury. And so we wait…