Real estate business owner charged with 3 felonies

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The owner of a former Maricopa real estate business has been charged with three felony counts stemming from a possible misuse of trust account money.

Earlier this month, a grand jury returned a true bill in a case against Dawn Anderson, owner of Maricopa Properties LLC, which has since closed its location in Maricopa. The case is being handled by the state’s attorney general’s office.

Anderson has been charged with theft, forgery and fraud schemes and practices.

The business was forced to close its doors last April after an audit conducted by the Arizona Department of Real Estate revealed a possible misuse of funds. 

An onsite audit of Maricopa Properties was conducted by the department in March. The audit revealed a shortage of almost $280,000 in broker trust accounts, and showed that records maintained by the business were not properly filed, written or signed.

“As a real estate broker engaged in the business of property management, Anderson is licensed and regulated by the ADRE,” a press release Friday from the attorney general’s office stated. “She is required by law to maintain and be responsible for a trust account containing funds belonging to the owners of the rental properties managed by her. The property owners are the legal beneficiaries of this trust account.”

Last April, the real estate department issued a cease and desist order against the business.

The department fined the business a civil penalty of $12,000 in December.