The rat at the center of the Maxim fraud trial, Calvin R. Darden, took the stand for the government on Tuesday and attempted to help the feds bury his former attorney Harvey Newkirk as a co-conspirator.
Both Darden and Newkirk were arrested by the FBI last year for an alleged scheme to dupe investors out of $8 million that involved Darden impersonating his father, also named Calvin Darden, a successful businessman.
In one bizarre twist, the younger Darden revealed that World Wrestling Entertainment emerged as a potential backer for his bid in late 2013. Darden testified in Manhattan federal court that he had talks with Shane McMahon, the son of WWE founder Vince McMahon, who was executive vice president for the company and a sometime pro wrestler.
In another unusual move, defense attorney Priya Chaudhry told Judge Jed Rakoff that Newkirk might take the stand in his own defense next week. The defense claims he was “duped” and a “victim” of the younger Darden, whom they label a “con man.”
Darden — who has already pleaded guilty over his role in the failed bid to buy the magazine — painted a picture of Newkirk as a willing accomplice.
He said Newkirk helped him create fake documents purporting to show real estate as well as stock holdings being pledged by the elder Darden as collateral to help secure the loans for the magazine bid.
At one point, as one of the forgeries was uncovered by a potential investor, the younger Darden said he and Newkirk met in Darden’s car outside the New York law offices of Bryan Cave to discuss what to do next.
The government presented more than a half-dozen investors and advisers, all of whom said they thought the elder Darden was leading the bid. The elder Darden claims he was involved in a “strictly advisory” capacity — a point on which the younger Darden concurred in testimony on Tuesday.
The investors were averse to working with the younger Darden because of his role in a stock swindle that sent him to federal prison for 3½ years in 2005 and defrauded NBA star Latrell Sprewell and singer Nelly, among others.
The younger Darden admitted to impersonating his father on several investor phone calls and in a string of fake emails with financial statements in the Maxim deal, and he claims he did so with the full knowledge and support of Newkirk.
The younger Darden said he did not think the investors would notice his higher voice — even though he met them in person earlier and admits he and Newkirk “laughed about it.”
At one point, in desperation to get an extension, the younger Darden cooked up a fake email address for his father, sent it to Newkirk and ordered that $5.1 million in funds be deposited in an escrow account and released to the sellers of Maxim.
Despite signed documents to the contrary, there is no one named “Calvin Darden Sr.” nor is there a “Calvin Darden Jr.”
The younger Darden said his middle initial is “R” for Ramarro and his father has no middle name. He said he cooked up the “junior” and “senior” designations with Newkirk to dupe investors.
“We figured it [the erroneous name] would provide cover and create ambiguity in case anything happened,” Darden said.