Lawd, you have me so confused.
How do you know Joey was paying expenses since October? I didn’t think we knew what the exact arrangements were, ever. I do not think expenses were very high, based on what JM said to his father, about a pump costing a couple hundred dollars and how he could make the fountains for pretty cheap. At any rate, we don’t know who was paying what expenses at any point, do we?
I do think the arrangement with MSM was that Merritt was Joey’s employee. Sequeda (or whatever the spelling is) said Merritt was Joey’s problem. Also, based on how MSM didn’t trust Merritt, I think if they were employing him, they’d have let him go. I think the arrangement with MSM was that Merritt would do the pumps and the electrical work (which was testified to, I believe) and MSM did the design and welding work. To me, it looks like MSM was getting 50%, but I have no idea who was footing the expenses. We do know JM bought pumps, and that Merritt was using them for non EIP projects, so maybe JM was paying the expenses.