Prosecutors rest their money laundering case against Fort Bend County Judge KP George

RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) -- After more than three days of presenting their case, prosecutors rested their felony money laundering case against Fort Bend County Judge KP George.

LAST-MINUTE WITNESS FAILS TO TAKE THE STAND

On Monday, special prosecutor Brian Wice told ABC13 that prosecutors planned to call one more witness. That person was District Attorney Fraud Examiner Betty Chi.

When Chi finished testifying, prosecutors said they had one more witness to call on Tuesday before resting their case, but didn't reveal who it was. On Tuesday morning, they told the judge they planned to call an officer to translate a video.

Before jurors were brought into the courtroom, prosecutors said George posted a video to social media where he spoke in Malayalam, his native language from India. In the video, prosecutors told Judge Maggie Jaramillo that George talked about campaign money he loaned himself.

Prosecutors said the amount he said in the video was $46,500. That's important, they said, because they argue that George stole $46,500 from his campaign in 2019.

Prosecutors said they couldn't find a court reporter in the Richmond area to translate the video. They found an officer, who they said spoke Malayalam and could translate the video to the jury.

Defense attorneys immediately asked the judge to block the witness. George's team told the judge that they weren't aware of this video or the witness until Tuesday.

"It's a complete surprise," defense attorney David Medina shouted. "It's a complete ambush."

Jaramillo grew frustrated with both sides, told them to stop fighting, and left the courtroom. When Jaramillo returned, she said the witness couldn't be called, and if prosecutors could find a court translator, they could be called as a rebuttal witness.

With that, prosecutors rested their case.

DEFENSE ASKS THE JUDGE FOR A VERDICT IN THEIR FAVOR

After prosecutors rested, the defense filed a motion for a directed verdict. The motion asked the judge to find George innocent based on a lack of sufficient evidence against him.

The judge called for a break while she considered the motion. Jaramillo returned about 20 minutes later, and she denied the defense's motion.

Defense attorney Jared Woodfill told ABC13 he could call three witnesses, including George's former chief of staff, Taral Patel. Patel was in court on Monday.

In 2025, Patel pled guilty to an online fake racism post scheme. Prosecutors said Patel created fake accounts and fake racist comments that were directed at George prior to his 2022 re-election.

George was charged with a misdemeanor in the case. He's scheduled to go to trial for that in May.

The trial judge made it clear before Patel took the stand that she didn't want any testimony regarding the fake racism post case. If she heard any, she would declare a mistrial.

Before Patel took a question, he took a heavy breath and told jurors he was nervous. He recalled that in 2018, he was surprised George won the county judge's race.

He recalled how George was unprepared, but willing to learn. Too disorganized and overwhelmed, the defense said to steal campaign funds after taking office.

PROSECUTORS FOCUSED THEIR CASE FOLLOWING THE MONEY

During the more than three days prosecutors presented evidence to the jury, they focused on a paper trail they said George left behind. In 2019, they said George made two transfers from his campaign account to his personal account totaling $46,500.

District attorney employees on the stand told jurors they found George used the money to pay for property taxes, HOA dues, and a down payment on a new home. The theft they alleged allowed George to gain more wealth.

Chi told jurors that the campaign theft allowed George to make a $50,000 down payment on a $270,000 home. By doing so, she said George sold his previous home and used the sale to pay off the new home completely by 2021.

With no mortgage, Chi said George started saving a lot of money and was able to purchase three more homes and use them as rental properties.

The defense has argued the transfers weren't theft, but repayment. They said George loaned prior campaigns money and was paying himself back, which you're legally allowed to do.

Chi told jurors she never saw campaign finance reports or bank statements tied to George's county treasurer campaign in 2009, U.S. Congress race in 2012, and Fort Bend ISD trustee campaign in 2014.

The defense's final witness on Tuesday explained to the jury why not seeing those other reports could be an issue. Andy Taylor was called to the stand on Tuesday afternoon.

He's an attorney and told jurors he's worked with a number of politicians on election-related issues. He said when George ran for treasurer and school board twice, he could've filed 18 campaign finance reports.

If he gave himself a loan, Taylor said George wouldn't have been required to show the loan in future races. Taylor said there was also an issue with George's 2018 campaign records that prosecutors showed jurors.

He said prosecutors only showed the jury the campaign finance report with two months' worth of data. "There's 300 days missing, which makes the compliance review impossible," Taylor said.

Chi said the banks didn't have records that went that far back, and the county didn't have the campaign finance reports either.

Before the trial began on Tuesday, prosecutors said they located a translator who could testify about the video found on George's social media platform. They plan to call that person to the stand once the defense rests its case.

George faces two money laundering counts. If convicted, George faces 10 years behind bars and would be immediately removed from his county judge position.

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