Opening arguments began after the lunch recess.

Ms. Kenney on behalf of the Government began. The 'mug shot' photos were shown on the 6 lcd screens in the courtroom. Among the charges that would be proven, Ms. Kenney said, were false production of W-2's, altered bank statements, false rent history and paycheck stubs. Also that Mr. Vanatta passed himself off as a licensed Real Estate agent when in fact he was not licensed. Ms. Kenney stated that Vanatta was a former painter of Miller's, working on his new homes. The government would prove that Vanatta (and his wife Hallie Irvin)was paid kickbacks in the form of 'Construction Management Fees' from mortgage broker's through Miller.

Further, the government alleges, that Hallie Irvin was the owner of two shell companies; 'HCI, Inc.' (her initials) and 'Innovative Designs'. Irvin left harrassing messages for James Sparks demanding loan files to be returned and created fictitious tax returms for a year that she did not work and did not have an income.

Sandra Jo Harris worked in Miller's office at 10777 Barklay, Overland Park, KS. She answered telephones from prospective buyers and was a participant in the 'file cleaning party' in which some or all of the defendants were directed to destroy damaging and fraudulent documents.

Mr. Bradshaw's opening arguments included bigraphical information about his client, F. Jeffrey Miller. He is a lifelong Kansas Citian, married with two teen age children. He is the owner of several companies and built homes in 3 price categories ranging from $150,000 to $1-2 million dollars at Lake of the Ozarks. He stated that it is not unusual for a builder to take back and second mortgage on a property. Mr. Bradshaw said there was 'no connection' between Miller and James Sparks and doubted that Sparks would be able to pick out Mr. Miller in the courtroom. As for Vanatta, he was an audio visual sub contractor of Miller's, for Miller construction projects in Lake of the Ozarks, Carl Junction, MO and Lone Jack, MO. Additionally, the court will hear testimony from a lender at the Lake who worked with Miller to purchase a home at 415 Regency Cove Dr., Four Seasons, MO and the factual and truthful nature of the application for a mortgage on that property.

Finally, Mr. Bradshaw stated that the court will hear testimony about Mr. Miller and another attorney, Pete Smith, 'bending over backwards' to satisfy the court assigned monitoring company, Meara King.

Mr. Rork, attorney for Steve Vanatta was next. He states that Mr. Vanatta never portrayed himself as a licensed Realtor. And although he had taken a real estate licensing course, there was a problem when he applied for his license in Kansas and Missouri; Mr. Vanatta had been convicted of a felony, passing a bad check. And because it was a 'company check', Mr. Vanatta failed to disclose the prior conviction to the Real Estate Commissions in Kansas and Missouri. Mr. Rork further stated that the reason his client wanted the mortgage files back from Sparks, was that Sparks was 'getting out' of the mortgage business.

Hallie Irvin's attorney said that Irvin worked for Miller for 3-5 months, she and Vanatta live in a home in Lenexa, KS and have a couple of kids. Irvin and Sandra Jo Harris worked in Miller's Overland Park office and did the 'grunt work'. He stated that the money paid to Irvin (and or her companies) were not kickbacks.

Ms. Harrises' attorney stated that Sam had worked in the Miller office for 7-8 months in 2006. There, she answered the phones and fielded inquiries from buyers. She filled out paperwork and sales contracts. Ms. Harris had no formal training in the real estate or construction business and learned it through 'on the job training'. She also stated that Harris had no involvement in the 415 Regency Cove transactions and although she is accused of violation of her monitoring agreement, she was simply doing 'what she was told to do'.

Court adjourned for the day and will resume on Thursday, November 20th at 9:00 a.m.