Radio Host Charged With Fraud Michael Martin Released After Turning Himself In

Tue., Dec. 16, 1997

Staff And Wire Reports

A radio real-estate adviser and property manager who vanished after leaving a note saying he had “embezzled” more than $100,000 from clients was released Monday without bail.

Michael T. Martin, host of a radio show for more than 13 years, made no comment during or after a hearing before U.S. Magistrate John L. Weinberg in Seattle a day after he had turned himself in.

Martin, 43, is charged with fraud by radio. Other charges probably will be filed next month, Jason Joulton, head of the FBI’s white-collar crime unit in Seattle, said in a telephone interview.

The rarely used charge of fraud by radio carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1 million fine.

Weinberg rejected a request by assistant U.S. attorney Janet Freeman that Martin be ordered to post a $100,000 unsecured bond.

As a Seattle native with family ties in the area, Martin is neither a threat to the community nor a flight risk, the magistrate ruled.

Martin is accused of taking money from investors, including residents of Mullan, Idaho, where he owned a drugstore building and restaurant.

Since May, four judgments against Martin totaling nearly $125,000 have been entered in King County Superior Court, some by default.

He was sued Friday for more than $86,000 by a nurse who claimed he had used false statements to induce her to invest money with him.

Theresa Aldridge of Edmonds, Wash., sued Martin, saying he had lured her into investing $75,000 in two buildings in Mullan as well as $11,839 in the renovation of a West Seattle home.

Martin’s property investments also have come under scrutiny by state real estate and securities investigators.

The arrest came six days after Martin had left a note for Valerie Zifka, his bookkeeper, and disappeared.

The note listed specific sums as having been taken from companies that had apartments and condominiums managed by Martin’s firm.

, DataTimes

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