Fraud defendant’s website takes prosecutors to task

Kim Smith

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

Franklyn Perry, who is sitting in the Clark County Detention Center awaiting trial on charges of bilking 1,100 people out of $40 million, is making waves with his website again.

A couple of months ago prosecutors asked District Judge Nancy Saitta to force Perry to remove the addresses of his alleged victims from his website -- www.FranklynPerry-notguilty.com -- citing privacy concerns.

Now, prosecutors are shaking their head at the latest items posted through Perry's supporters on the outside.

In one, Perry claims he will soon be airing video and audio tapes of the "financial transactions" he made with his clients in an attempt to prove his innocence.

In the other, Perry admonishes Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane for allegedly ignoring a murder suspect's attempts to help solve four unsolved murder cases.

Last month attorneys said Perry had become an informant in a murder case involving a client of one of Perry's attorneys.

Kane told reporters that Perry had allegedly written law enforcement officials offering information about Jamon Brooks, who is one of several men accused in a fatal drive-by shooting.

Defense attorney Pete Christiansen, who represented both Brooks and Perry, successfully argued that he should be removed from at least one of Perry's cases.

In Perry's latest web posting, Perry accuses Kane of "assassinating his character" by portraying him as a snitch in the news story about Christiansen.

Perry insists that Brooks came to him with information about four unsolved murders because he couldn't get anyone to listen to him. He didn't go to Brooks, Perry said.

"I, Franklyn Perry never sent any correspondence concerning Brooks to anyone. As stated above, Brooks attempted to contact the district attorneys office, detectives, judges, attorneys, no one cared about murders that were unsolved," Perry wrote.

Perry says that Kane should be ashamed for doing nothing to alleviate the pain of the murder victims' families.

He goes on to say "I never asked to be placed in this situation, nor did I ask for any leniency on any of my existing charges."

Kane and Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent, however, say that Perry never does anything without expecting some benefit.

"He's a manipulator," Laurent said flatly. "He's trying to cast himself as the victim and as a good guy. He wants to taint the jury pool in whatever way he can."

"He's just selling more shinola," Laurent went on to say.

Kane said the information provided by Perry has been provided to the police, but he declined to comment on any ongoing investigations.

"My gut tells me that Franklyn Perry, since he drew his first breath, has never done anything to benefit anyone but himself," Kane said.

Laurent said police have no reason to believe that Perry recorded any of the transactions with his alleged victims. No tapes or recording equipment has ever been found and two co-defendants are unaware of any recordings, Laurent said.

"I would be very surprised if they're there," Laurent said of any recordings.

Police allege Perry promised investors huge returns on loans to high-rolling gamblers who had hit their credit limits at area casinos.

Police said he would pay some investors a few hundred dollars a week, saying it was the return on the money they gave him. The weekly payoffs often enticed others into the scheme, which required a minimum buy-in of $10,000, police said.

Authorities seized between $22 million and $23 million in cash, in addition to real property, such as cars and boats, from Perry last year.

On his web page, Perry claims that all of the loans would have been paid back had Metro not "illegally" seized the funds from him.

On his home page, Perry promises the website will provide "Factual Information To All LENDERS That Reveals how Franklyn Perry has always protected 'YOUR MONEY,' and Is Still Safe In A Vault. Read The Truth About How Frank's Main Goal Is To Return Your Money, and Keep The State For SPENDING It!"