U.S. couple accused of Ferrari embezzlement

Testimony has begun in the trial of a Connecticut couple accused of embezzling some $3 million (euro2.25 million) from the sale of a vintage Ferrari automobile.

Photo: U.S. couple accused of Ferrari embezzlement

Richard and Janice Anderson are charged with larceny, accused of taking about half of the $6.5 million (euro4.9 million) Luigi Chinetti Jr. was supposed to make from the sale of a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM in 1998.

The 64-year-old Chinetti is the son of an Italian race car driver who helped Enzo Ferrari launch his car company after World War II. The Andersons had a business relationship with Chinetti.

During testimony in Superior Court Tuesday, Chinetti said he has spent a lifetime playing the "cat-and-mouse game" of selling rare Ferrari automobiles, The Day reported in its Wednesday editions. But he was never interested in investing, so he let other people manage the millions he made off the cars.

A few years ago, Chinetti wound up "poor," he said, with only about $100,000 (euro74,900) to his name, claiming that his former friends, the Andersons, burned through a $3.5 million (euro2.6 million) account he had entrusted to them to access on his behalf.

According to court documents, the Andersons helped with the sale of the Ferrari. The buyer was Jon Shirley, a former president and chief operating officer of Microsoft.

Their commission was supposed to be $65,000 (euro48,700).