Prosecutors allege defendant laundered money for scam artists who conned people online into sending thousands of dollars
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Aframe called Ian Freeman “a manipulating, lying, money launderer” in closing arguments of the Keene resident’s federal trial Wednesday.
Defense attorney Mark Sisti countered that the prosecution’s case was long on speculation, innuendo and intuition but short on evidence and said his client is charitable, peaceful and well liked.
The closing arguments marked the end of the two-week trial for Freeman, the libertarian activist and radio host who lost a GOP primary race for state Senate this year. Jury deliberations began Wednesday at about 3 p.m., and are scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
He has pleaded not guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, money laundering and income-tax evasion, as well as conspiracy charges in connection with the money-laundering and unlicensed money-transmitting allegations.
Prosecutors allege he laundered money for scam artists who met people on the internet and conned them into sending thousands of dollars. They said Freeman would take a percentage and convert the rest into Bitcoin for the scammer. Bitcoin is a type of digital currency backed by computer code rather than a central banking authority.
Freeman took the witness stand Tuesday and said revenue from handling the transactions went into his Shire Free Church in Keene, which he…
