Johnson, 33, of Winter Garden, gave a video-recorded deposition June 15 in the criminal case against Greer, the ousted party chairman now awaiting trial on theft and fraud charges. The Orlando Sentinel obtained a copy Friday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/highschool/football/broward/fl-brow-top-ten-0929-20120929,0,848148.story
Johnson described Greer as "dictatorial" and said Greer blind-sided him in early 2009 when he proposed creating Victory Strategies LLC, the company that prosecutors say Greer and Johnson used to steal money from the state party.
Greer says he did nothing illegal and that the company earned legitimate fund-raising commissions. Prosecutors say he set it up in secret and used it to funnel $125,000 of party money into his personal bank accounts.
In his deposition, Johnson said Greer insisted that there be no paper records tying him to the company. They were largely successful, Johnson said, except that the party's chief financial officer, Richard Swarttz, came to suspect Greer was behind Victory.
Still, Johnson said, Swarttz paid Victory's invoices without question. "Nobody questioned the chairman," Johnson said.
Johnson's most dramatic revelation was about a party fund-raiser in the Bahamas in 2008. In attendance were major party donors and prominent Florida Republicans, he said.
"I specifically saw a golf cart with young ladies drive by, the extent of why they were there I did not specifically know," Johnson said. "But I could presume they were prostitutes."
In his deposition, Johnson identified a handful of prominent Republicans whom he said were at the fund-raiser, including Greer and Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard.
Ballard said Friday night that he was there, along with about 100 other people, and said he knew nothing about any guests spending time with prostitutes.
He called it "ridiculous and disgusting" that the people who attended had been "thrown into a scandalous lie."
Although Johnson owned a 40 percent share of Victory Strategies, he was not charged because he struck a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify against Greer and repay the $65,000 that he earned through Victory Strategies.
Defense attorney Damon Chase pointed out during the deposition that Johnson was the one who opened Victory Strategy's bank account, was the only one who ever submitted invoices to the party for payment, the only one who deposited the party's checks to Victory and the only one who had a key to its post office box.
Johnson said he did those things at Greer's direction.
Greer, 50, of Oviedo, is charged with four counts of theft plus fraud and money laundering.
rstutzman@tribune.com or 407-650-6394.
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