State claims local man trying to dodge fine with bogus land deal

LOGAN — A Logan man who owes the state of Ohio around $100,000 on a long-unpaid pollution fine has now been accused by the state attorney general’s office of trying to avoid paying it by fraudulently transferring real estate to a Logan woman in an “insider” deal in 2020.

Mark Anthony and three of his companies owe the state of Ohio a civil penalty for having polluted the Hocking River more than a decade ago. In July 2013 the state filed a complaint in Hocking County Common Pleas Court against Anthony and the companies Marlin Trace Investments Ltd., Marlin Trace Investments II Ltd., and Lake Logan RV Park LLC. It alleged that two wastewater treatment plants related to mobile home parks and a campground Anthony operated were discharging raw sewage into the river.

In a consent order in April 2017, the defendants agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty in 16 payments over 45 months. But in October 2021, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed a motion in the county court, alleging that in the nearly four years allotted for making payments, the defendants had paid a total of just $1,500, leaving them still owing $98,500 before interest.

In late 2021 a judge in common pleas court found Anthony in contempt for failing to meet his payment obligations.

A complaint filed by the AG’s office Thursday with the court alleges that Anthony has tried to prevent the state from collecting the civil penalty from 2017, and has done so by means of a fraudulent transfer of an interest in real property.

The property at issue is a home on a parcel of about 50 acres on state Route 664 N. The site was purchased by Marlin Trace Investments, Ltd., in 2007 for $290,000. In 2020, the company sold the property to a Logan woman for $225,000.

The AG is claiming that the transfer was made “with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud” the state, after Anthony learned that he owed the state $100,000. The complaint alleges that the property was sold for less than it is worth, to someone who qualifies as an “insider” in relation to Anthony. It notes that the Hocking County Auditor’s Office puts the value of the house and land combined at over $456,000. It also alleges that the transfer was concealed from the state.

The AG is asking the court to set aside and annul the property transfer, and permanently enjoin Anthony from transferring any other property owned by him or his companies without the court’s permission.

Email at jphillips@logandaily.com