Judge delays decision on trial for Jackson man accused in kickback scheme

A Cape Girardeau County judge will take some time before making a decision on whether a Jackson man should stand trial for allegedly profiting from a kickback scheme in which authorities say an area business was the victim.

Following witness testimony there was a dispute on whether the defendant, Jason Mitchell, should have been criminally charged at all.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle called the case "simple" and alleged that Mitchell appropriated money that belonged to the DeWitt Company, the defendant's former employer, into his own bank account. Along with the owner of a textile supply company out of Tennessee, Rajiv "Reggie" Toprani, Mitchell was charged Feb. 15 with felony stealing for carrying out a kickback scheme for three years, netting what one witness claims was more than $500,000.

Mitchell allegedly purchased items from Toprani's company for DeWitt, a Sikeston, Mo., company, at a price the two chose and then received back -- into an account he created for his own business purposes -- a percentage of the purchase price. Investigators said Mitchell was asked by his employer to purchase items at the lowest price possible, shopping several vendors. They say Mitchell instead purchased exclusively from Toprani at a price set by the two men.

Mitchell's attorney, Stephen Wilson, said if the case belongs anywhere it belongs in civil court, questioning more than once why the money Mitchell received from Toprani belonged to DeWitt. Wilson said there's no "kickback statute" in Missouri and that there was no criminal activity involved in what his client did.

"It would require evidence that the quote victim, or DeWitt, paid more than they were supposed to or didn't receive the goods they paid for," Wilson said.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Gary A. Kamp said he would review statutes and court was adjourned after more than an hour of testimony from Larry DeWitt, the company's president and CEO, and Richard Potter, former DeWitt CFO, who authorities allege participated in the kickback scheme with Mitchell.

Potter testified that Mitchell approached him in 2003, when he announced that there was an opportunity to partner with a supplier who was implementing new machinery and improving general operations. The supplier was KT America owned by Toprani, who had sold more than $56 million in materials to DeWitt since 2001.

Potter said that Mitchell would purchase textiles from KT America and a percentage of the purchase price would be wired into an account at Bank of America the two created under the business name Global Census. DeWitt should have benefited from the sale and not Mitchell, Potter said.

Wilson questioned Potter on why the money transferred to them from KT America couldn't be considered "appreciation" from Toprani for helping him expand his company.

"Morally and ethically, as employees of DeWitt, any work that's done on behalf of them the thinking is that all the money should go to DeWitt," Potter said. "I'm saying what we did was wrong."

Larry DeWitt told the court that he had no knowledge of the kickback scheme. He also said that although he'd not researched whether or not the company paid higher than the reasonable market price for Toprani's product he knows that the prices they paid for textiles dropped immediately "the minute Jason and Reggie were out of the picture."

After Wilson raised more questions about a civil dispute between the DeWitt Company and Toprani, Larry DeWitt and Potter agreed with the defense that he has not paid KT America the $1 million they say DeWitt owes them.

"We just refuse to pay that amount of money now," DeWitt said. "I don't owe him anything as far as I'm concerned."

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, MO

905 S. Kingshighway, Sikeston, MO