Saturday, December 14, 2002
Richard Burrow testifies at his trial on federal fraud charges
'At no time did I try to deceive'

By JAY CONLEY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Richard Burrow testified Friday that he believes in his heart he was truthful with banks as he sought loans last year to keep contractors from walking off the job at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

"I tried to be as honest and open as I could," the former president of the memorial's nonprofit foundation said of his efforts in acquiring loans. "At no time did I try to deceive anyone in any fashion."

Burrow also acknowledged that he deeply regrets not informing the foundation's board of directors earlier of the organization's cash flow problems in the months leading up to the monument's grand opening.

Burrow, 55, of Roanoke, testified during the fifth day of his trial in federal court on charges he committed mail, wire, bank and loan application fraud in raising funds for the memorial's construction. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Dressed in a blue blazer and limping to the witness stand because of recent ankle surgery, Burrow appeared confident while answering questions posed by his lawyer, John Lichtenstein. About a dozen family members were in the spectators' gallery as Burrow talked publicly for the first time since he resigned 17 months ago about what went wrong at the memorial.

Since the $25 million monument was dedicated June 6, 2001, with President Bush in attendance, the foundation has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is struggling to pay off $3.8 million in debt.

Federal prosecutors allege that Burrow crafted a complex financial shell game to fool banks, private donors and the commonwealth of Virginia so the foundation could obtain more than $7.5 million in loans, donations and grants to pay construction costs.

Among the charges are that Burrow used an undocumented $2 million pledge from a Richmond millionaire as security for a $1.2 million loan from the Bank of the James. The $2 million was supposedly pledged during a fund-raising dinner in Richmond in March 2001, when E.C. Robins urged other people at the dinner to contribute and said he would match their donations up to $2 million if they were made by the end of May 2001.

Federal prosecutors say the donations never materialized, so Robins didn't have to match anything. Robins testified Monday that he'd never pledged anything formally.

Board member Skip Tharp and a foundation bookkeeper testified that the pledge was bogus.

Under questioning from Lichtenstein, Burrow said he honestly believed that Robins would donate the $2 million, and that's why the pledge was listed on donor sheets he furnished in seeking bank loans.

"I believed that we were going to match that whole $2 million. To me it was a pledge," Burrow said. "I tried to provide them [banks] the best information as I knew it and felt it in my heart."

Another defense witness, retired banker Warner Dalhouse, testified Thursday that Burrow's action in listing the Robins pledge wasn't improper or uncommon in fund-raising circles.

Burrow conceded, however, that he'd made a big mistake in not informing foundation board members of the foundation's financial troubles in the months leading up to the opening.

In April 2001, Coleman-Adams Construction Co. threatened to walk off the job unless the foundation paid it for overdue bills. A few board members heard about the threat and confronted Burrow, and he urged them not to tell other board members because he didn't want news of the problems to leak out.

Former board member Buck Bradley testified Monday that he was unaware of the scope of the problem until mid-June, when he and two other board members demanded to see the foundation's outstanding bills. Burrow resigned shortly after that, citing job stress.

"It's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't go to the board as soon as I should," Burrow told the court Friday.

But he denied Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Hogeboom's allegation that he purposely deceived the board.

"I didn't lie dealing with my board. . . . I provided as much financial information as they asked me to provide them," Burrow said.

The board instead was more concerned with getting the memorial built in time for the planned dedication, he said.

Burrow, who in testimony from former board members was described as committed and even emotionally attached to the project and the D-Day veterans he had met, broke down on the stand as he described his motivations for acquiring the bridge loans to help pay bills while he banked on future donations to arrive.

"There were 1,000 World War II and D-Day veterans dying per day," he said. "We wanted to get it done so they could see it."

Documents from foundation board meetings show that the board approved all the loans Burrow acquired. But it was apparent from the testimony of four former board members that they didn't understand in 2000 that Burrow used a bank loan to match a $3.3 million taxpayer-funded grant from the Virginia General Assembly and in turn used the grant as collateral for the loan.

Hogeboom has insisted that is fraudulent.

Burrow's defense has been that the foundation's attorney said the method was not illegal.

Hogeboom's cross-examination of Burrow ended late Friday with the prosecutor noting that Burrow's belief in undocumented pledges coming to fruition was odd, considering that Burrow himself has failed to come through with a $5,000 pledge he made to the foundation.

Burrow has contributed $100 of the pledged amount but testified it's unlikely he will pay the rest.

"I don't know that I intend to meet that pledge at this point in time," he said.

Closing arguments in the case are expected to be heard Monday.

Jay Conley can be reached at 981-3114 or jay.conley@roanoke.com.

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