Feds used wire to find buried loot from Bill Erpenbeck case
Federal agents began focusing on Skidmore as they searched for the assets of Bill Erpenbeck, who was ordered to forfeit $34 million as part of his 2003 conviction for stealing millions of dollars from banks and home buyers. Skidmore told FBI agents as early as July 2002 and again in March 2003 that he didn't know where any of the money was hidden. Skidmore then appears to have dropped off agents' radar until the summer 2009. See: ERPENBECK ENQUIRER STORY ARCHIVE

Feds used wire to find buried loot from Bill Erpenbeck case

Erpenbeck's brother secretly recorded Steven Michael Skidmore discussing burying $250,000 on golf course, court documents claim

COVINGTON- FBI agents used one of Bill Erpenbeck's brothers to smoke out where some of the disgraced homebuilder's money was hidden, it was revealed in federal court documents filed Monday.

The 40 minutes of audio recordings made during two meetings at Skidmore's home in the late summer or early fall of 2009 appear to be the smoking gun in the government's case against Skidmore. He is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if found guilty of making false statements.

The trial is set to begin Dec. 29 at the federal courthouse in Covington and is expected to last two days. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves said he would order the courthouse open on New Year's Eve in order to resolve the case by year's end.

Federal agents began focusing on Skidmore as they searched for the assets of Bill Erpenbeck, who was ordered to forfeit $34 million as part of his 2003 conviction for stealing millions of dollars from banks and home buyers.

Skidmore told FBI agents as early as July 2002 and again in March 2003 that he didn't know where any of the money was hidden. Skidmore then appears to have dropped off agents' radar until the summer 2009.

That's when Bill Erpenbeck summoned agents to the federal prison in Florida where he is serving a 25-year sentence to say Skidmore was given $250,000 in cash to hold for him until his release.

Agents then enlisted Jeff Erpenbeck, a co-owner in Bill Erpenbeck's former home building company, to get Skidmore to disclose that the money was buried between the No. 3 tee and the No. 6 green of the club's golf course. Skidmore once lived next to Bill Erpenbeck in a luxury home that overlooked the members-only club.

As authorities were literally digging up the cash in October 2009, an FBI agent met Skidmore at Montgomery Inn in Fort Mitchell. After Skidmore again denied any knowledge of hidden assets, the FBI agent informed him of the dig at the golf course.

At that point, Mr. Skidmore stated, "I think I may need to speak to an attorney about this," according to motion filed by Skidmore's own attorneys.

The defense lawyers, Hal Arenstein and Gary Sergent, want all the statements their client made after asking for a lawyer to be thrown out at trial.

The lawyers argue in the pleading that the statement involved Skidmore's right to an attorney and therefore the incriminating statements that followed violated his Fifth Amendment rights.

"There were no cautionary instructions offered by the agents and a complete recitation of the Miranda Rights was never given," the defense lawyers said in their motion to suppress. "Instead, they asked him to accompany them to the site of the excavation and continued to engage him in conversation to his detriment. Any further questioning following his statement was a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights."

Judge Reeves is set to take up the suppression issue during a hearing on Dec. 8.

The hidden money deteriorated during the eight years it was buried in a soft-sided, blue cooler. Other court records say the decay was so extensive that authorities don't know if they will be able to salvage all of it.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20101122/NEWS010703/11230343/Feds-used-wire-to-find-buried-loot-from-Bill-Erpenbeck-case