LEXINGTON — Before former Gov. Wallace Wilkinson was questioned as part of his bankruptcy case, his lawyer said Mr. Wilkinson would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege, and he did so more than 140 times, according to a transcript of Mr. Wilkinson's deposition.

        The questioning last Thursday and Friday covered Mr. Wilkinson's financial and business affairs. Lawyers are concerned about possible federal criminal investigations into his activities.

Wilkinson

        Attorney Gregory Haynes said Mr. Wilkinson would invoke the privilege “not to respond to any substantive questions concerning his financial affairs, his financial relationships and personal relationships with the creditors (in his bankruptcy) and anything related thereto.”

        Mr. Haynes said he was concerned about “the existence of investigations by federal authorities, at least by the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and probably others,” according to the transcript, which was filed in bankruptcy court in Lexington on Tuesday.

        Mr. Wilkinson is not aware of the exact nature of the investigations, Mr. Haynes said, but they “obviously have civil and perhaps criminal implications.”

        Later, when attorneys in the bankruptcy case held a teleconference hearing with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge William Howard about Mr. Wilkinson's repeated use of the Fifth Amendment, Mr. Haynes said Mr. Wilkinson's decision to take the Fifth had been based in part on consultations with prominent defense lawyer and former Watergate prosecutor James Neal of the Nashville law firm Neal & Harwell.

        When another attorney raised the possibility that Mr. Wilkinson's refusal to divulge financial information could seriously damage his chances of presenting a business reorganization plan that his creditors could accept, Mr. Haynes acknowledged the problem.

        “We are fully aware of what the assertion of the (Fifth Amendment) privilege, the effect that it potentially can have on these proceedings,” Mr. Haynes told Judge Howard. “We've had to make a very tough decision here.”

        After the questioning ended, Mr. Wilkinson issued a statement saying he would not submit to further questioning under oath or comply with other attempts to have him produce information in civil court proceedings.

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