For reasons known only to his legal camp, Bill Erpenbeck wants his former banker - John Finnan - in court Feb. 6 when Erpenbeck argues for more favorable sentencing treatment.

"The testimony relates to some of the issues we've raised objections about," said Erpenbeck's lawyer, Glenn Whitaker of Cincinnati.

Erpenbeck's company borrowed heavily from the now-defunct Peoples Bank of Northern Kentucky that Finnan once led. When Erpenbeck Co. went down in April 2002, Peoples went down with it, eventually selling its operations to The Bank of Kentucky.

Bill Erpenbeck pleaded guilty to bank fraud in April and agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation.

Finnan has not been charged with any crime, but concedes in court papers that he is the target of a federal investigation His lawyer, Richard Goldberg of Hyde Park, said Finnan would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at the Feb. 6 hearing.

Jim McNair