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Hangar42 owner charged with fraud

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-916273.mp3

LANSING, MI –

The main investor in what was once considered a groundbreaking part of the effort to build a Michigan film industry has been charged with fraud. As Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta tells us, the investor is charged with telling lies to get a $10 million film tax credit.

AUDIO:
The felony charge alleges Joseph Peters lied about buying a former auto parts plant, and that he inflated the value of the property that was supposed to become the Hangar42 soundstage in suburban Grand Rapids.

John Sellek is the spokesman for the attorney general's office.

"All that adds up to an attempt to snooker the taxpayer and certainly that would come at a time when taxpayers could least afford it."

Peters' request for the tax credit was denied when he could not produce the documentation to back up his claims. An aide to a Grand Rapids legislator became caught up in the scandal when he was caught on video bragging about the project, and how to use the film tax credit to pocket a profit on the land deal.

Sellek says the investigation is not over, and more charges could be filed.

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