2-06-2023 4:52pm

Agoura Hills Real Estate Developer Agrees to Plead Guilty to Lying on Bankruptcy Petition and Filing False Federal Income Tax Returns

Anita Johnson-Brown Editor

LOS ANGELES –Mark Handel, 68, a real estate developer whose business is based in Agoura Hills has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for failing to report a bankruptcy petition that he acquired earnings of about $2.3 million in revenue and for failing to report nearly $6.9 million in income on his tax returns, the Justice Department announced on February 6, 2023.

Handel agreed to plead guilty to a two-count information charging him with making a false statement in bankruptcy and subscribing to a fraudulent tax return. Both the information and Handel’s plea agreement were filed today in the United States District Court.

Handel has agreed to forfeit about $3,545,712, which represents the profits of the sale of real estate in Alameda County. The defendant has also agreed to pay the IRS roughly $1,450,070 in tax liabilities, which include civil fraud penalties.

He is expected to enter a guilty plea in the future.

According to his plea agreement, in April 2015, Handel filed a petition for bankruptcy in Los Angeles in which he knowingly made false statements. Under penalty of perjury, Handel said that he had no income from 2013 until April 2015.

Handel earned approximately $2,263,221 in income from DTMM Construction Inc., Handel's West Los Angeles-based real estate development business. Handel caused DTMM, which, according to court documents, stands for “Don’t Touch My Money,” to be registered in his wife’s name but used DTMM to deposit the earnings from his job as a real estate developer and to pay for his and his family’s living costs.

Handel concealed his income from his creditors by depositing it into DTMM’s accounts. Among the assets Handel hid from creditors included his interest in real estate in Livermore, California.

In October 2016, Handel signed and filed a false federal income tax return for the tax year 2015 that failed to disclose approximately $1,096,175 in additional income. Handel further admitted that for the tax years 2010 to 2017, he failed to report a total of approximately $6,886,877 of income on his federal tax returns.

Handel also falsely reported a net operating loss of $7,259,119 on his 2017 federal income tax return, he also underreported his earnings on his 2018 tax return by $1,411,050 and confessed to failing to pay $460,408 in added taxes.

Once the defendant pleads guilty to both charges, he will face a statutory maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation along with the FBI with assistance from the Office of the United States Trustee.

Assistant United States Attorney Thomas F. Rybarczyk of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this matter.

This news report was updated by Anita Johnson-Brown.