Day 7: Forensic accountant testifies about Kouri Richins’ finances

PARK CITY, Utah (KSL) — A forensic accountant testified about Kouri Richins’ many debts on Tuesday during her murder trial. She is accused of fatally poisoning her husband, and prosecutors claim she needed the money from his life insurance policies.

Brooke Karrington, the accountant, said she reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents in the case, including leasing documents, a premarital agreement, loan documents, real estate transactions and bank records.

In October 2021, five months before Eric Richins died, many transactions didn’t clear, and Kouri Richins’ account was often negative despite the money coming in.

Karrington said the overdraft transactions increased from October 2021 through the end of March 2022. In December 2021, there were 77 overdraft or nonsufficient fund transactions, resulting in $2,000 in fees. She testified that Kouri Richins would write checks to herself, some that bounced.

In March, she owed about $7.5 million and needed to pay around $80,000 each month toward that debt, the accountant testified.

LIVE UPDATES | Day 7 of Kouri Richins murder trial

WATCH LIVE | Day 7 of Kouri Richins murder trial

Richins, a Kamas mom and real estate agent, is accused of killing Eric Richins on March 4, 2022. She is also accused of slipping drugs into his food, making him sick, on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Tuesday is the seventh day of her jury trial, which is scheduled to last through March 27.

Karrington said around the time of her husband’s death, Richins had four payday lenders to whom she had committed to pay $2,100 toward each day. The accountant said these loans had a high interest rate, and those rates would almost double if the loans went into default.

In 2019, when Richins established her real estate business, she bought one home at $215,000; the next year, she purchased five homes totaling over $2.2 million; and in 2021, she purchased 15 homes totaling over $6.7 million, Karrington said. In 2022, her only purchase was a Midway mansion, which cost $2.9 million.

For some of the homes, Karrington said she made a profit, but other times she lost money, including one home on which she lost around $155,000.

In a statement seeking investors, Richins claimed she had 147 employees and had done “multimillion-dollar fix and flip projects.” Karrington said she had no evidence Richins ever profited $1 million in her business and she would not have had money to pay those employees.

Her company, K Richins Realty, was primarily owned by Kouri Richins’ aunt Doreen Kouri, who owned 81%. Karrington testified, however, that she could not see Doreen Kouri providing any of the cash the company needed.

She said Richins’ tax returns are missing the majority of her loans in 2019, making it look like she was more profitable. She said she did not know why someone would want to report more income on their taxes, but it would make the business appear more successful.

The forensic accountant said Richins used a lot of lenders to purchase the Midway mansion, which she signed for on the day Eric Richins died, and did not have money left to finish the home.

In a note from Kouri Richins asking someone if they wanted to invest, she said she did not have the $3 million it would take for renovations. “It’s definitely out of my league, but the margins are so insane that I had to pick it up and then figure it out! HAHA! HELP!!!!” it said.

After closing on the mansion, Richins’ net worth was negative $1.6 million, and Eric Richins had $2.2 million in life insurance policies, Karrington said. She said Kouri Richins did get $1.35 million of that money and spent it all within three months.

On March 12, 2022, a week after she acquired it, Kouri Richins tried to sell the mansion. Although a few offers were made, all of them fell through, and the property eventually foreclosed.

Karrington said she believes Kouri Richins was busy running her company, and keeping track of finances was not a priority.