DETROIT (UPI) -- Detroit businessman John Bravata, accused of running a $53 million Ponzi scheme, said in court his two companies did millions of dollars of business together.

Bravata also took the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions on what he promised investors in the case known as the "Billionaire Boys Club," scheme. He confirmed spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a luxury home, The Detroit News reported Thursday.

His wife, Shari Bravata, testified that she spent thousands with a BBC Equities company credit card on luxury trips, once paying to take 12 friends and family members on an ocean cruise, the newspaper said.

But Bravata and his son, Antonio, author of "The Wealth Creator: Let's Make Millions," who worked as a salesman for the company, both refused to answer questions, invoking the right not to incriminate themselves.

John Bravata refused to answer whether or not he told investors their "principal investments were guaranteed by certificates of deposit at Comerica," asked by Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Jonathan Polish.

When asked, "is that book ("The Wealth Creator") fiction or nonfiction, Antonio Bravata said, "I don't know how to answer that question."



Copyright 2009 by United Press International

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