09042015 - News Article - Testimony shows links between fund withdrawals, gambling trips

Testimony shows links between fund withdrawals, gambling trips

NWI Times
September 04, 2015 - 11:30 PM

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/testimony-shows-links-between-fund-withdrawals-gambling-trips/article_6775c502-0861-5bc7-a2d7-dfec4f4ade4c.html

HAMMOND | An Internal Revenue Service special agent testified Friday about how Lake Station's mayor and his wife apparently traveled to a casino less than 24 hours after withdrawals from his campaign fund and the town's food pantry account.

At the trial of Keith and Deborah Soderquist in U.S. District Court in Hammond, IRS Special Agent Steve Martinez used bank and casino records to link the two events.

From 2010 to 2012, $35,304.25 in ATM withdrawals were made from the Campaign to Elect Keith Soderquist Fund. Another $5,040 in such withdrawals were taken from the food pantry account.

Soderquist was elected mayor in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. Martinez said the first ATM withdrawal from the campaign account, amounting to $100, occurred on the afternoon of May 24, 2010. That night, players' cards assigned to Keith and Deborah Soderquist were used at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich., according to records Martinez testified about Friday.

Players cards are given to gamblers to track their gambling. Based on their play, gamblers using the cards can receive free slot play, free food and other perks. 

On June 18, 19, 20, and 21, 2010, withdrawals of between $300 and $500 were made from the campaign fund within 24 hours of the Soderquists' players cards being used at the casino. On Jan. 13, 2011, the first ATM withdrawal was made from the food pantry within 24 hours of the cards being used at the casino.

The next day, $500 was withdrawn from the campaign fund within 24 hours of the Soderquists' cards being used at the casino.

In all, the couple is alleged to have taken more than $20,000 in ATM withdrawals from the campaign committee bank account within 24 hours of gambling, according to the grand jury indictment, which charged the pair with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, and three counts of filing a false income tax form.

Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Kolar on Friday, Martinez said if the money taken from the ATMs was used for personal use, such as gambling, then it should have been listed as other income on the couple's tax returns for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012. He said the money, however, was not listed on the forms.

Defense attorney Scott King contends money taken from the accounts were repayments for money they couple had spent out of their own pocket and said the government has receipts of some of these expenditures. A casino employee cross-examined by King earlier has also acknowledged the players' cards can be used by other people at times. 

In court documents filed prior to the start of the trial, prosecutors contended the Soderquists "attempted to cover up their crimes by submitting false and misleading documents to investigators."

King is expected to cross-examine Martinez when the trial resumes Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano.

Lozano told jury members Friday they could begin their deliberations either Tuesday or Wednesday. If convicted of all the charges, the Soderquists face up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines on each wire fraud charge.