Fort Bend County DA fraud examiner tells jury how she said Judge KP George stole money, hid it

RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) -- A Fort Bend County fraud examiner told a jury she believes Judge KP George completed inaccurate campaign finance reports for years, she said, to cover up stealing thousands of dollars.

FRAUD EXAMINER LAYS OUT THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE NUMBERS

On Monday, George's felony trial resumed, as he's facing two money laundering counts.

Prosecutors said George stole $46,500 in campaign funds in 2019, when he made two wire transfers from his county judge campaign bank account to his personal savings account. On Monday, Betty Chi, a district attorney fraud examiner, told jurors how she believes he stole the money and tried to cover it up.

"It appears he was trying to conceal the $46,500 that he transferred to himself during this period," Chi said.

Here's how she said George did that. Going through finance reports before and after the transfer, Chi said George didn't accurately show the number of donations coming in, and how much money the campaign was spending based on what the bank account showed.

For example, in the July 2019 report, Chi said the campaign bank account started with $37,128. Based on the account information, Chi said George received $92,789 in donations and spent $60,112. This left the campaign with an ending balance, Chi said, of $69,805.

However, the campaign finance report showed the campaign had a starting balance of zero, received $85,524 in donations, spent $12,256, and had an ending balance of $73,268. The difference between the reported end balance compared to the actual bank balance, Chi said, was about $3,500.

Over the next few finance reports, Chi said George changed the numbers to make the difference even smaller.

"Why would someone mislead the campaign finance report?" prosecutor Charann Thompson asked. "There might be something they don't want people to find out," Chi answered.

Chi was the only witness prosecutors put on the stand on Monday. Before the judge broke the courtroom for the day, prosecutors announced they had one more witness to call, but didn't say who it was.

During the trial, George's attorneys have said he transferred $46,500 because he was paying himself back for loans he gave to previous campaigns, when he ran for county treasurer, U.S. Congress, and Fort Bend ISD trustee. When questioned about these previous campaigns by George's defense attorney, Jared Woodfill, Chi said she never saw the finance reports or bank statements during that time period.

Chi said the county didn't have the financial records, and the bank didn't keep records that went back that long.

COSTCO HOT DOGS, SUNDAES DISCUSSED AS THE DA'S OFFICE DUG DEEPER INTO THE FINANCES

Last week, the Texas Ethics Commission executive director told jurors that candidates are allowed to give their campaign loans and repay them. The TEC executive director said candidates don't have to show the loan in future races on campaign reports. However, he said, candidates are supposed to document the activity on their campaign finance reports if they repay themselves.

Chi said from 2016 to 2018, George moved about $30,000 from his campaign fund back to his personal account. That she said left him with a balance of about $41,000.

However, she said the campaign bank account showed 37 payments, totaling about $27,000, were made to credit cards. When Chi got the credit card statements showing what they were used for, she said it was clear it wasn't campaign-related expenses.

Chi said the credit cards were used for medical expenses such as dentist bills, utility payments, and shopping trips, including weekly Costco visits where Chi said George usually made two purchases on the same day. A larger Costco payment, she believes, was used for shopping, and a smaller one, she believes, was used at the Costco cafe for items such as a hot dog and sundae.

THE FRAUD EXAMINER SAID MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAKE RACIST POSTS MADE HER LOOK INTO GEORGE

Chi said she started to look into George after seeing news coverage about him in 2024, tied to fake, racist social media posts. George faces a misdemeanor for misrepresentation after prosecutors said he was involved in a scheme that made up online racist comments that helped him win re-election in 2022.

George's former chief of staff, Taral Patel, pleaded guilty in that case last year. George is set to go to trial for it in May.

Chi told jurors she looked up publicly available documents related to George. She found he purchased four properties from 2019 through 2024, and paid one off completely in 2021.

Between paying off the home and down payments, she said it totaled about $475,000. Chi said the "math didn't math" when she looked into how much George and his wife made. Between the two of them, she said their household income was about $200,000.

Chi told jurors that after she presented the information to others within the district attorney's office, they told her to start a formal investigation. That's when they obtained banking information.

THE DEFENSE WILL START TO PRESENT ITS CASE SOON

On Friday, defense attorney Jared Woodfill told ABC13 that they may call three witnesses when they present their case. Some of the witnesses include Commissioner Dexter McCoy, who used to work with George, and Patel.

Patel was in the courtroom on Monday, seated in the witness room. He declined to comment to ABC13 about his former boss.

As for George, Woodfill said they haven't decided if he'll take the stand in his own defense.

If convicted, George faces ten years behind bars and would be removed from office.

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