Agoura Hills Developer's Fraud Sentencing Delayed After Guilty Plea

AGOURA HILLS — An Agoura Hills-based real estate developer's sentencing for federal bankruptcy and tax fraud charges was delayed Monday, which comes as a documentarian is working on a film about the developer's moonlighting as the "boogeyman of porn."

Mark Handel, 68, pleaded guilty in February to charges of making a false statement in bankruptcy and submitting a false tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was set to be sentenced Monday, but his sentencing was delayed until Nov. 14.

While the federal charges concern Handel's real estate business, The Daily Beast last year reported that the developer also has a parallel career as "one of the most notorious and misogynistic figures in hardcore porn" under the pseudonym Khan Tusion.

That's the subject of an in-the-works film from director Lucas Heyne, The Daily Beast reported.

He agreed to forfeit $3.54 million, equivalent to the proceeds of a real estate sale in the Bay Area. He also agreed to pay the IRS $1.45 million, which covers civil fraud penalties, according to court documents.

According to his plea deal, Handel knowingly made false statements in a 2015 bankruptcy petition. He had stated he made no income for about two years, when he in fact earned about $2.26 million from DTMM Construction Inc., his West Los Angeles development company that stands for "Don't Touch My Money."

Prosecutors said DTMM was registered in his wife's name, concealing his income from creditors. The company's profits were used to pay for his family's living expenses.

Federal prosecutors said that in October 2016, Handel signed and filed a false federal income tax return for the tax year 2015 that failed to disclose almost $1.1 million in additional income. Handel further admitted that for the tax years 2010 to 2017, he failed to report a total of about $6.88 million of income on his federal tax returns, court papers show.

Handel also falsely reported a net operating loss of $7.25 million on his 2017 federal income tax return as well as underreported his income on his 2018 tax return by $1.41 million and admitted to failing to pay $460,408 in additional tax, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

City News Service contributed to this report.