Re: 12/7/11 - [SLJB] Windsor Star: Sullivan trial told of nude beatings; 'Fear motivated everything I did'
Sullivan trial told of nude beatings
'Fear motivated everything I did'
BY DAVE BATTAGELLO, THE WINDSOR STAR DECEMBER 7, 2011
windsorstar.com
The former bookkeeper for disbarred lawyer Scott Sullivan testified Tuesday her boss forced her to submit to beatings in the nude whenever she made a mistake at the office.
Kristine Robinson-Limanek said it was her lingering fear of Sullivan that made her deny earlier in the trial that she had sexual contact with her former boss.
After initially saying the two did not have a sexual relationship, RobinsonLimanek admitted to sexual acts with the former Windsor lawyer over several years.
If she messed up at work, Robinson-Limanek said Sullivan would take her back to her home, force her to strip and assault her "with a stick."
She wrote a letter to Superior Court Justice Thomas Carey and lawyers for both sides over the weekend which she read in court Tuesday. It was that letter which forced a one-day adjournment of the trial on Monday.
"(Sullivan) told me I owed him for everything," Robinson-Limanek read from her letter. "He beat me if I made a mistake at work. Fear motivated everything I did. I found myself paralyzed by fear. I've decided today is stick-up-for-me day. I should have done it a long time ago. You can't hurt me anymore, Scott."
Robinson-Limanek is a key Crown witness as the primary employee and bookkeeper who worked several years for Sullivan. Sullivan is alleged to have diverted thousands of dollars from his firm's accounts for his private use and bilked a number of clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sullivan was a prominent local real estate and corporate lawyer who has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of fraud, forging documents and breach of trust for the alleged improper handling of about $300,000 of clients' money.
The Law Society of Upper Canada disbarred Sullivan in May for allegedly misappropriating more than $1 million of his clients' money.
Sullivan's lawyer Dan Scott was set to introduce further evidence of the sexual history between Sullivan and Robinson-Limanek when the judge cut him off, questioning its relevance.
Scott indicated he highlighted the sexual relationship in court to detail the witness's lack of credibility because she denied romantic links with Sullivan during a law society hearing two years ago and initially during the current trial.
Scott agreed to move on and the remainder of the day his questions focused on Robinson-Limanek's financial struggles over the years, her difficulties keeping track of the firm's funds because of little accounting training and using a company credit card for personal use on dozens of occasions at such places as Zehrs, Wal-Mart, local restaurants or gas stations.
Robinson-Limanek was the only employee at the law firm who had a company credit card, she testified.
Earlier in the trial, Scott pointed to the firm's financial records which showed Robinson-Limanek also received at least $4,000 in loans from Sullivan over a period of a few years when her husband was unemployed. The bookkeeper tracked the loans with promissory notes she kept in her desk drawer and repaid in cash, she testified.
She testified earlier that Sullivan provided her with more than $30,000 for three years of law school and textbooks. She never repaid the funds, believing it could have been paid back through work once she was called to the bar and working as a lawyer for the firm.
She is employed today as an instructor and administrator for a paralegal training centre.
Robinson-Limanek ran unsuccessfully for the Progressive Conservative party during the 2007 provincial election under her maiden name, Kristine Robinson. She ran in the Windsor-Tecumseh riding against Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. Sullivan was a local Conservative party supporter during that time.
Robinson-Limanek also testified Tuesday that Sullivan did not monitor her work handling the firm's finances. Her work included preparing paperwork for real estate transactions and handling 100 to 300 cheques per month. She also told the court she received the firm's monthly bank statements.
Scott asked Robinson-Limanek if she ever had any memory of taking a bank statement to Sullivan with concerns on any issue.
"No I did not," Robinson-Limanek responded.
The trial is expected to continue today with testimony from Sullivan's alleged victims.
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