Maryland Construction Company Owner Pleads Guilty in $1.7M Fraud Plot

A Maryland construction company owner has pleaded guilty to engaging in a scheme to defraud a customer out of more than $1.7 million.

U.S. Attorney Robert Hur’s office said in a news release that 65-year-old Ivan Victor Thrane faces a maximum of 20 years in prison following his guilty plea Thursday to wire fraud conspiracy. The plea agreement calls for Thrane to pay more than $988,000 in restitution.

U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm is scheduled to sentence Thrane on Jan. 7.

Thrane was owner and president of three construction companies operating in Dickerson and Beltsville.

Prosecutors say Thrane conspired with a project manager to defraud an unnamed company by billing it for work that Thrane’s companies hadn’t performed. The company discovered the overbilling in 2016 and sued Thrane.