Secretary Testifies in Symington Trial

Gov. Fife Symington’s former secretary testified during his federal trial in Phoenix that she helped him prepare three versions of the same financial statement, and he would pick which version to send to which lender. Assistant U.S. Atty. David Schindler painstakingly led Joyce Riebel, the first witness called by the prosecution, through intricacies of some of Symington’s financial statements from the mid-1980s. Riebel said only she and Symington had access to the statements, which were stored in a locked file cabinet. The Republican governor is accused of 22 charges of bank fraud, attempted extortion and perjury.