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The financial records of Todd Brunner, the Pewaukee man who made a fortune dealing with foreclosed properties but is now in bankruptcy, were never tossed in a snow bank as he has repeatedly charged, his former secretary said Tuesday.

Brunner is the Pewaukee man with an affinity for Bentleys and other fancy cars and boats who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. We profiled his story in the Sunday Journal Sentinel.

Creditors are scouring his records trying to determine what exactly he owns and how much those assets are worth -- a process that has been hampered Brunner's his lack of records.

In interviews and under oath, Brunner, 54, has repeatedly said that Julie Sweet, a former secretary, ruined his records. "She took all of our records and threw them in a snowbank," Brunner testified in a July bankruptcy court hearing. "So six months ago when we were starting from scratch, I did not have any tenant names, other than what I remembered."

Julie Sweet, who worked for Bunner for about 1 ½ years said that after her acrimonious departure from Brunner she returned all of his records in good condition.

“I did not drop them in the snow,” said Sweet, who quit working for Brunner in January.

Sweet, however, acknowledged she did not return the records in a typical business style. Instead of handing them to Brunner, Sweet said she placed his "less important" records and paperwork in a couple of large plastic storage boxes, taped them shut and left them at the door of his home, which also serves as his office.

Tenant records, including those showing rent receipts, were sent to him via certified mail, she said. Sweet said she has the receipt showing the package was delivered to the Brunner home.

"There were a lot of hurt feelings," when she quit working for Brunner, Sweet said explaining why she did not give Brunner back the records in a face-to-face meeting. Sweet said she felt that Brunner was preparing to replace her.

Jonathan Goodman, Brunner's bankruptcy lawyer, said his client denies ever receiving the records from Sweet.

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