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September 23, 2005Judge to decide on embezzlement caseSuspects allegedly bilked seniorsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - A preliminary examination continues to determine if owners of a local investment firm will go to trial on charges of using false pretenses to coax area residents into making over $1 million in bad investments. Gary L. Singer and Margaret Zimmerman, owners of Estate Growth Management in Traverse City, appeared with their attorneys before 86th District Court Judge John Foresman for the second round of a preliminary examination hearing Thursday. The state attorney general's office in July charged Singer, 54, and Zimmerman, 47, with multiple felony counts of false pretenses and embezzlement against vulnerable adults. The state also filed 10 counts of embezzlement and false pretenses against the business and four felony charges of embezzlement against Estate Growth employee John Brzezinski. The examination for Zimmerman and Singer is scheduled for a final day on Oct. 4, at which Foresman will decide whether there is enough evidence bind the two over to 13th Circuit Court for trial. Brzezinski, 25, was bound over to circuit court this month and is scheduled for trial in November. Attorney general officials in July said the alleged scheme to invest in two California companies - Network Services Depot and Bikini Vending - involved 14 victims in area counties. One of those alleged victims, Robert Robbins, testified Thursday morning that he moved approximately $287,000 from an annuity account on Zimmerman's advice to what he thought was another such account. Robbins said Zimmerman made a verbal "guarantee" that the rate of return in what he thought was another annuity would be 12 percent. "It turned out I moved (the money) into Bikini Vending," Robbins testified. "(Zimmerman) didn't explain Bikini Vending to me." See Related Stories: Couple sues TC business accused of embezzlement - July 29, 2005 Trio charged in senior scam - July 9, 2005
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