A Washington-area real estate developer pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding several million dollars from a Baltimore bank and the Resolution Trust Corp.
Dennis A. Laskin, 52, of Bethesda, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to two felonies: defrauding Maryland National Bank (now part of NationsBank) and the RTC between June 1991 and August 1992, said the U.S. attorney for Maryland.
Laskin was then a partner with Colton and Laskin Inc., a real estate firm with offices in Prince George’s County.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors are recommending that Laskin be sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $500,000, said U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia.
She said in a written statement that Laskin has agreed to cooperate with the continuing investigation.
Herbert Better, Laskin’s attorney, could not be reached Tuesday.
According to court records, Laskin set up a “family trust” in January 1991 with more than $10 million in cash, deposit certificates and interests in real estate partnerships.
After defaulting on a loan for a real estate development project in Germantown in 1991, Laskin concealed the trust’s existence from Maryland National, court records state.
The bank had sought to recover money from Laskin’s guarantee of the loan, but was duped by a fake financial statement from him hiding the trust money, court records state.
Laskin also defaulted on a $3.1 million loan for a project in Bowie and failed to inform the RTC of the family trust, court records state. He was released awaiting sentencing, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dale P. Kelberman. No sentencing date has been scheduled, he said. -30-