A partner in a company allegedly plundered by financiers David and Antoinette Bolden said he “trusted them implicitly,” and “almost had a heart attack” when he discovered the accounts had been drained.John Wright was one of two Canadian partners in Emerald Capital International [ECI], along with Mr and Mrs Bolden, from Bermuda. Prosecutors say the Boldens stole more than $360,000 from ECI in late 2008 and early 2009 to support their other failing companies, pay debts, and live beyond their means.The pair, who denies the allegations, are on trial at Supreme Court accused of theft, money laundering and filing misleading information to the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Mr Wright told the trial yesterday that he and Canadian business partner Jason Bagg approached Mr Bolden in 2007.Mr Bolden ran the Emerald Financial Group of companies in Bermuda with his wife, and the Canadians suggested they collaborated in founding ECI, to invest in mining ventures in Canada. “He had a good reputation,” said Mr Wright of Mr Bolden.Eventually, Mr Wright, Mr Bagg, Mr Bolden and Mrs Bolden each paid a quarter of the $10,000 required to set up ECI as an exempt company registered in Bermuda.Mr Bolden and Mr Wright were named as directors, Mr Bagg was President, and chartered accountant Mrs Bolden was chief financial officer.Mr Wright said of the Boldens: “We trusted them implicitly. They seemed like they had a good reputation on the Island and good contacts.”However, he said Mrs Bolden, 47, failed to provide quarterly financial statements requested and expected by he and Mr Bagg.The Canadian partners had persuaded “high net-worth” investors to plough $1.2 million [US] into ECI, and the financial information was needed for these shareholders.[We] asked Antoinette on a number of occasions, both Jason and I, to produce them, to provide them to us, but we did not receive them,” he told the jury.“Often [there was] no response. Often ‘I’m too busy;’ there were other things. She seemed like a busy person, she had a lot in her life, so I did not receive quarterly statements.”When he spoke to Mr Bolden about this, “he said he would look into it and get back to us,” but failed to do so.Mr Wright told the jury he and Mr Bagg were based in Toronto, but monitored the ECI accounts with Bank of Butterfield in Bermuda via online banking. Around October or November of 2008, he found he could no longer log in to the accounts.Prosecutor Susan Mulligan has told the jury either Mrs Bolden or the bank changed the access so that a security key code combination was needed. The Canadian partners requested the new code but it was not sent.Mr Bagg eventually obtained copies of the bank statements in January 2009 and e-mailed them to Mr Wright on January 27 2009. They showed up the missing funds.According to Mr Wright, well over $300,000 had been moved out of the accounts in $10,000 increments by Mrs Bolden without permission or discussion.The company rules stated that banking transactions over $10,000 required the authorisation of one of the Canada partners in addition to one of the Bermuda partners.Mr Wright, who was on a business trip to the United Arab Emirates at the time, e-mailed Mr Bagg in response to the bank information saying: “What the ****? I was in a seminar and looked at this and almost had a heart attack!”He e-mailed Mr Bolden later the same day saying: “I almost had a heart attack when I saw this. On October 31 we had about $640,000 in the operating accounts. Currently there’s only $167,000.”He urged Mr Bolden: “Tell me what it’s all about. I’m freaked out and I will call.”However, he said, Mr Bolden did not answer his call. Mr Bolden responded to e-mails requesting an explanation about the missing funds by saying he was “busy”.Ms Mulligan asked Mr Wright whom he considered the missing money belonged to.He replied: “It was Emerald Capital money. It was company money. We felt it was our duty to the shareholders to protect the capital.”Ms Mulligan told the jury in her opening speech that the Canadian partners were eventually left with no option but to contact the police.Detectives seized numerous documents during their investigation including bank statements, company minutes and e-mails between the Canada and Bermuda partners in ECI.Mr Wright spent several hours yesterday afternoon talking the jury through a large bundle of those documents, giving his account of events. He’s due to continue his evidence today.