Here's a crazy story I ran across in the local newspaper this morning:



"NEW LONDON -- As the story goes, it was the friendship of legendary race car driver Luigi Chinetti Sr. that pushed Enzo Ferrari to ditch his career as a machine tools maker after World War II and become one of the world's greatest sports car makers.

The Chinettis and the multimillion-dollar Ferrari car the family helped make famous are at the heart of a criminal trial in Superior Court here in which prosecutors accuse a Lyme couple of embezzling about $3 million from the now-deceased Chinetti Sr.'s son.



Richard and Janice Anderson are accused of misappropriating about half of the $6.5 million Luigi Chinetti Jr., 64, was supposed to make from the sale of a 1956 Ferrari Model 290 MM in 1998. If convicted of first-degree larceny and conspiracy charges, each Anderson faces a maximum prison sentence of 60 years and fines of up to $15,000.

The estimated five-week trial, which began Tuesday, is expected to include details about disputed bank accounts and testimony from financial representatives and accountants.

On the witness stand Tuesday, Chinetti Jr. recalled a bomb-ravaged, chaotic Italy in the winter of 1947 where Chinetti Sr. launched his career as a Ferrari exporter to the United States.

"He said to my father, `If you sell six cars for me, I will build them,'" Chinetti Jr. said about the story of his father's partnership with Ferrari. The task proved easy for the older Chinetti, who used his many racing contacts to make the sales.

At one time, Enzo Ferrari and Chinetti Sr. both drove for the Alfa Romeo racing team. But it was Chinetti Sr.'s victory in a 12-hour race in France and his 1949 victory at Le Mans, France - while driving Ferraris - that helped put the Ferrari name on the map.

Chinetti Sr. opened a Ferrari dealership in Manhattan and became the first to import the Italian car to North America in what Chinetti Jr. called "a mom-and-pop shop" where his parents and a few mechanics worked. By 10, Chinetti Jr. said, he was working in the back shop.

The family and the dealership moved to Greenwich by 1957 and the business was sold in 1977. By the 1990s, Chinetti Jr. made a living by selling some of the 25 cars he had left in his collection. While researching ways of making diesel engines acceptable in the American market, Chinetti Jr. met the Andersons and a friendship developed.

Chinetti Jr. testified that the Andersons volunteered to help him with his personal affairs, bookkeeping and the restoration and sale of his sports cars. Richard Anderson offered Chinetti Jr. an industrial building he owned in East Haddam for the car business.

But Chinetti Jr. eventually learned that the proceeds from a $6.5 million car sale went into an account the Andersons had access to at A.G. Edwards and Son, a stock brokerage firm. He said the Andersons, both 62, used the money for loans to fund a number of things including a down payment on a Mercedes and their son's college education costs.

Under questioning by Assistant Chief State's Attorney John Malone, Chinetti Jr. appeared to know little about his own finances. He said he never reviewed financial statements, in part because he was living in homes in Florida and Quebec where he did not always receive his mail. He also said he would not have agreed to invest his money in stocks because he did not understand the workings of Wall Street.

But under cross-examination by defense attorney William F. Dow III, Chinetti Jr. seemed defensive when questioned about why Janice Anderson, who formerly worked at Hartford Hospital, was never paid for bookkeeping she did for the business over several years.

Dow also pointed to a 1990 document in which Chinetti Jr. named Richard Anderson "an exclusive agent" charged with "negotiating the sale" of cars in Chinetti Jr.'s multimillion-dollar car collection. The document did not include formal mention of financial compensation Richard Anderson would receive as the agent.

In the toughest cross-examination Tuesday, Dow asked Chinetti Jr. why he waited more than two years to go to the police after learning about his dwindling bank accounts. He also grilled Chinetti about two lawsuits he filed against the Andersons, one that sought $4 million in damages, and another seeking $2.7 million in damages.

"Isn't it true Mr. Chinetti that you're using the criminal courts to try to seek financial resolution of two unsatisfied lawsuits?" Dow asked.

"My understanding is the civil case takes years and years to develop," Chinetti Jr. replied. "I would never put the two together."

Testimony resumes today.

"