CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - A former mall owner in West Virginia has pleaded guilty to federal bankruptcy and tax fraud charges.
Dietrich Fansler of Morgantown entered the plea Monday in federal court in Clarksburg.
The 59-year-old Fansler is the managing member of Pin Oak Properties, which operated Middletown Mall in Fairmont. Fansler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2017.
Prosecutors say Fansler admitted that between June 2017 and the following January, he was required to deposit rent collected from the mall’s tenants into a special account but used about $225,000 of that for unrelated expenses. He also admitted concealing the action and failing to pay personal and employee withholding taxes.
Prosecutors say Fansler has agreed to pay more than $880,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service as well as the diverted rent.
Fansler faces up to five years in prison.
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