KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Defense attorneys on Friday ridiculed the government’s case against former Westar Energy Inc. chief David Wittig and a former Topeka bank president, claiming prosecutors had not come close to proving the two men conspired to commit bank fraud.

Prosecutors contend Wittig conspired with Clinton Odell Weidner II, former president of Capital City Bank in Topeka, in hopes of securing $20 million to help him and other Westar executives invest in a proposed Westar spinoff.

Wittig and Weidner went on trial last week, charged with identical counts of conspiracy, making false bank entries and money laundering. Wittig has denied all of the charges. Weidner pleaded guilty to two counts of making false bank entries but is on trial for the other counts.

Attorneys ended their closing arguments Friday afternoon and turned the case over to the jury. The jury deliberated 2 1/2 hours before being sent home for the weekend.

In his closing statement, Weidner’s attorney, Pedro Irigonegaray, denied Wittig was involved in covering up his $1.5 million loan to Weidner. In fact, Irigonegaray told the jury, the charges were brought because the government wanted to convict Wittig so badly that they invented a “house of cards.”

Irigonegaray and another Weidner attorney, Robert Eye, told jurors Friday it was unreasonable to believe Wittig would have jeopardized a deal potentially worth more than $1 billion by loaning Weidner $1.5 million.

“The government simply wants to get you all excited about a big conspiracy,” Irigonegaray said. “The conspiracy doesn’t exist.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard Hathaway urged the jury to connect all of the various bank activities that he had detailed in the last two weeks. He said they amounted to crimes of opportunity by two men with the knowledge and position to take advantage of other people’s money. He also noted that the defense’s entire case rested on Weidner’s testimony.

“I suggest you view that with skepticism because it comes from the mouth of a convicted felon,” Hathaway said, referring to Weidner’s two guilty pleas.

“One guy in this room wants to fall on his sword,” Hathaway said of Weidner. “But he wants to do so in a way that would not require any forfeiture of his assets. He could walk away with the deal still intact.”

The government has contended Wittig loaned Weidner the $1.5 million in return for his help in making $20 million worth of bank loans available to Westar executives.