Petters said he would 'bite the bullet if he had to', agent testifies

Hearings on pretrial motions in St. Paul's federal court started today with some interesting testimony against Minnesota businessman Tom Petters. He is accused of bilking investors of more than $3.5 billion in a Ponzi scheme. We are beginning to get a better image of what happened as FBI agents raided his business.

One Nevada Gaming Control Board agent testified that when Petters was approached in Las Vegas in September, he said "I am the guy in charge and I will bite the bullet if I have to," according to a Star Tribune report.

Jesse Prieto went to Petters's suit at the Bellagio Hotel as Minneapolis agents were raising his Minnetonka business on Sept. 24.

More from the Star Tribune:

Prieto said Petters initially denied that there was any missing merchandise to back up promissory notes he had signed with investors. But Petters eventually acknowledged to FBI agent Eileen Rice that "no merchandise exits,'' Prieto said.

Petters attorney Paul Engh suggested during his cross-examination of Prieto that the Petters term "bite the bullet'' was inconsequential because the term has been "a mantra of his [Petters] for the last 20 years.''

In other Petters news, his attorneys aren't allowed to quit. The judge denied their quit request after they claimed they couldn't get paid due to the government freeze.