LOS ANGELES — An Agoura Hills-based real estate developer was sentenced Tuesday to 41 months in federal prison for failing to disclose on a bankruptcy petition that he had earned nearly $2.3 million in income and for failing to report almost $6.9 million in income on his tax returns.
Mark Handel, 69, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II, who also fined Handel $20,000 and ordered him to forfeit about $3.54 million, which represents the proceeds of the sale of real estate in Alameda County. Wright also ordered Handel to pay the Internal Revenue Service nearly $1.62 million in outstanding tax liabilities, including penalties and interest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Handel pleaded guilty in February in downtown Los Angeles to charges of making a false statement in bankruptcy and submitting a false tax return.
According to his plea deal, in April 2015, Handel filed a bankruptcy petition in Los Angeles in which he knowingly made false statements. Under penalty of perjury, Handel stated that he had no income from 2013 until April 2015. In fact, Handel earned about $2.26 million in income from DTMM Construction Inc., his West Los Angeles-based real estate development company.
Handel caused DTMM — which, according to court documents, stands for Don’t Touch My Money — to be registered in his wife’s name but allegedly used the company to deposit the profits from his own work as a real estate developer and to pay for his and his family’s living expenses.
Handel concealed his income from his creditors by depositing it into DTMM’s accounts, prosecutors said.
Among the assets Handel hid from creditors was his interest in real estate in Livermore, his plea agreement states.
Federal prosecutors said that in October 2016, Handel signed and filed a false federal income tax return for the tax year 2015 that failed to disclose almost $1.1 million in additional income. Handel further admitted that for the tax years 2010 to 2017, he…
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