Condo developer admits guilt

ANCHORAGE — A real estate developer facing fraud charges over developments in Wasilla and Anchorage entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court.

Lee Baker Jr., dubbed in media reports as Anchorage’s “Condo King,” was charged with one count of defrauding a financial institution relating to a housing development near Wasilla Lake on which he planned to build 52 duplexes.

Federal authorities said he took out a $1.4 million loan from Denali Alaska Federal Credit Union to buy the land on which to build the condos. According to federal prosecutors, though, he already owned the land and used the loan to sell it to his company, a fact he didn’t disclose to the bank.

The plea agreement reached Wednesday dismissed the Wasilla count and also a count of money laundering relating to a payment to a contractor he made using money he’d obtained fraudulently.

The 12 counts he pleaded guilty to all related to a development near Northern Lights Boulevard in Anchorage. The project was to build 85 apartments on 131,088 square feet of land.

The charges state that as the project moved forward he filed reports of work he’d completed. But the reports were never accurate and very little work was actually complete.

Baker will be sentenced Dec. 4. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.