Judge Reverses Couvrette Decisions

The conviction of former Couvrette Building Systems’ accountant Richard R. Jenkins, who worked for a Utah-based church that worked to lower its members’ tax levies, has been set aside by a U.S. District Court judge in Roanoke, according to published reports.

Salem-based Couvrette’s recovery from losses in a fraud was the topic of a cover story in Valley Business FRONT in December.

Judge Samuel Wilson put aside a guilty verdict and dismissed two other charges, all related to obstruction of justice in the case. The judge wrote that the indictments were not specific enough in detailing the charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s office is looking at a retrial on the one count where there was a deadlocked jury. Jenkins and two others (officers with the Church of Healing Arts and Sciences, as well as former Couvrette CFO Roy A. Dickinson, were charged with federal crimes. Dickinson is serving time in California.