Jurors trying an American woman accused of defrauding the Bermuda Government of $1.4 million heard dramatically different explanations of her actions yesterday.

A prosecutor alleged Teketa Thompkins conspired with Bermudian Management Accountant Harrison Isaac Jr, before going to town spending thousands of stolen dollars.

But Thompkins’ lawyer claimed she was duped by Isaac — a “slick” individual working in the Accountant General’s department — whom she believed to be the man of her dreams.

Thompkins, 33, faces nine charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering relating to the alleged swindle involving funds Isaac transferred out of a Government account with the Bank of New York. She denies them all. Opening the case for the prosecution at the United States District Court in Manhattan yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Goldin said Isaac administered the Bank of New York account. However, he abused the trust placed in him and began to steal from it soon after it was set up in 2003, to the tune of $2 million via internet transfers.

Mr. Goldin told jurors Isaac, 35, stole $1.4 million in five separate transactions between August 2003 and February 2004. This allegedly went to accounts held by Thompkins in the name of her sham businesses All Brand New and Simply Perfection in her home state of Georgia. She is accused of channelling a large portion of the funds back to Isaac through various means including wire transfers to his accounts. She was also caught smuggling what Mr. Goldin described as an “extraordinary” amount of cash into Bermuda for him, stashed in her underwear.

Describing the discovery made after she was stopped at Bermuda International Airport with $30,000 in total, Mr. Goldin said: “Most of it — $26,000 — was not in her wallet or purse, or tucked away in her luggage. It was stuffed under the two pairs of pants that she was wearing.”

He added that she lived a lavish lifestyle on the money she kept for herself — burning up to $1,000 a day on luxuries including flights, athletic equipment and big cell phone bills.

“Once the stolen cash started coming in the defendant did not just let it sit. She went to town with it, spending thousands and thousands — she visited cash machines, withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars in cash,” he said.

In addition to this, Mr. Goldin claimed Thompkins laundered the dirty money through moving big chunks of it between accounts she controlled. He stressed she knew exactly what she was doing in relation to the criminal scheme.

However, defence lawyer Paul Madden said his client trusted Isaac and never knew the cash was stolen, as he had picked on her as a vulnerable person.

“Harrison Isaac, a slick individual, held himself out to Miss Thompkins and others to be a wealthy and influential person,” he told the jury.

He said Thompkins met Isaac in 2003, when in addition to his job in the Accountant General’s Department he owned a business called Bermuda on the Rocks. However, claimed Mr. Madden, he had a history of bad behaviour.

“Mr. Isaac was involved in fraudulent schemes like this with others even before they met,” he told the court. He explained Isaac wooed his client, who he described as a hard working woman with no criminal record, who spent two years serving with the US Army in Saudi Arabia.

“He met her, romanced her over a period of time from July to August 2003 up until he was arrested in April 2004. Even thereafter he continued to talk to her, to telephone her, and wrote to her that he loved her. He played her right from the beginning.”He claimed Isaac knew Thompkins was behind on payments on her home, which was due to be repossessed, and picked her out as vulnerable.

“He told her as time went on that he wanted to marry her, that he loved her and wanted her to be the mother of his children. He proposed in January and gave her an engagement ring,” said Mr. Madden.He went on to claim that when Isaac promised to finance a business for Thompkins, she had no idea the money belonged to the Bermuda Government because she believed he had his own funds.

“She thought Harrison Isaac was the man of her dreams. She had been in bad relationships with other persons. She believed he was a wealthy man and had every reason to believe that,” he said.

The case continues.

Jurors told of Thompkins spending spree