A local business owner is now facing multiple felony charges.
Wilfred Walter Reisinger, 61, 1613 Truro Pavement, was charged with five counts of identity theft involving losses over $1,000 and under $10,000. Given the amounts involved, each count is a class D felony.
According to an Osceola Police report, Reisinger, owner of Anchor Motors in Osceola, knowingly used a previous employee’s Ford identification number to make fraudulent claims of warranty work to Ford Motor Company. Osceola Police Chief Marty Duffus said the charges are being pursued by the Iowa Department of Transportation.
It isn’t known whether Ford will follow up with its own complaints.
If convicted, Reisinger faces up to 5 years in prison and $7,500 in fines per charge.
“If Mr. Reisinger is convicted of these charges he would be subject to provisions which would prohibit him from owning, being employed by, or working for a licensed motor vehicle dealer in Iowa,” said Paul Steier, director of the Iowa DOT’s Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection.
Reisinger was back at work after the holiday weekend.
“It will all get worked out in court,” Reisinger said.
Past legal trouble
In 2000, Reisinger was charged with prostitution. Court records show a judge dismissed those charges without prejudice as part of a plea deal. In 2003, he was charged with third-degree harassment. A protection order was filed against him from March 2003 to September 2003, though court records show it was set aside after a jury found him not guilty.
Anchor Motors has had its own troubles, as well. A file at the Iowa Attorney General’s office contains 31 complaints spanning from April 2016 back to the late ‘90s.