Fotis Dulos arrives in court to testify in civil case | Daily Mail Online
Dec 3, 2019
Fotis Dulos was funding a jet-set lifestyle for him and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis for years before he and his now missing wife Jennifer started divorce proceedings, it was claimed on Tuesday at a civil trial over $2.5million he allegedly owes his in-laws.
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While he awaits his next court appearance in the criminal case, Dulos is simultaneously being sued by his ex-wife's mother, Gloria Farber, who says he owes her $2.5million in unpaid loans.
The lawsuit was filed in January 2018, 18 months before Jennifer disappeared.
In a risky and unorthodox move on Tuesday, Fotis decided to take the stand in that case, despite exposing himself to questions about Jennifer, their marriage and their life which could later be used against him in the criminal trial.
A forensic accountant also told the court he had been paying for flights for him, Troconis, and Troconis' son [daughter] to exotic locations since 2015 - two years before Jennifer filed for divorce.
He and Troconis had been having an affair but he resolved to save his marriage after Jennifer found out. She then later filed for divorce.
According to The New York Post, Dulos was surprised when the flights were brought up in court on Tuesday.
His criminal attorney, Norm Pattis, who was there to watch the proceedings, put his head in his hands, the newspaper reported.
Fotis himself took the stand.
He was at first questioned about his business and his relationship with his late father-in-law, Hilliard, who he said was 'like a second father to him'.
He said that in the beginning, the money was intended as a loan but that as he progressed in business, Hilliard said he no longer had to pay him back.
While it was not about Jennifer's disappearance, anything he says about their marriage could be used as part of the criminal case.
Early on Tuesday morning, his attorney Norm Pattis told
CBS This Morning: 'These commercial transactions took place years ago.
'We don't think they shed any light whatsoever on the criminal allegations,' he said.
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He has dismissed their claims in interviews saying he does not owe them anything.
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The first witness called on Tuesday was retired attorney John Schmitt who was the executor of Jennifer's late father, Hilliard's, estate.
Next was an accountant who said in a 2016 tax return, Fotis noted in company documents a loan from Hilliard for $2million.
The next year, the accountant claims Fotis asked him to move it from accounts payable to equity. When he refused, Fotis, he alleged, had someone else do it.