Prosecutors balk at releasing fraud defendant on home arrest

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A Los Angeles businessman charged in Utah in an alleged $511 million tax credit scheme involving biodiesel fuel wants to be released from jail and allowed to stay at home while being watched by private guards, but prosecutors don’t like the idea.

The Standard-Examiner reports that 52-year-old Lev Aslan Dermen’s asked a federal judge to release Dermen from federal custody in the Davis County Jail in Farmington, Utah.

Dermen’s motion said he isn’t a flight risk and that a private security firm would install security cameras and alarms and have armed guards present around the clock.

Prosecutors said Dermen would flee to Turkey where he has millions of dollars of assets and investments and that the security firm couldn’t be held accountable if Dermen escapes.

Dermen has pleaded not guilty.