N E W S  R E L E A S E

United States Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby announced today that an Ohio man has been charged with defrauding a Fayetteville business.

MARK WYANT, 51, doing business as Qualified Asset Management in Jackson, Ohio, was charged by a federal grand jury in Syracuse with three counts of wire fraud. The indictment alleges that Wyant fraudulently induced PRIMA International Trading, a company engaged in the buying and selling of construction and mining equipment headquartered in Fayetteville, to wire transfer $111,000 to purchase two trucks used in mining operations. In fact, the Indictment charges that Wyant did not have these trucks, did not deliver them and has refused to return the funds.

Wyant was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge David E. Peebles in Syracuse on April 2, 2008. He was released on his own recognizance. Wyant faces a maximum penalty of twenty years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each count.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward R. Broton.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.