Suspect Denies Arson, Racketeering Counts
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An Agoura Hills businessman pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to racketeering and arson charges stemming from a series of fires at businesses he owned in Massachusetts and California.
Robert Feldman, 55, was first indicted in September on a charge of masterminding a $2.6-million arson-insurance scheme involving a 1982 fire at his Grow Gear Inc. aircraft parts plant in Sun Valley. The indictment was expanded on Oct. 31 to include the racketeering charge and allegations that he also was responsible for fires during the 1970s at a restaurant and two car washes he owned in Massachusetts.
The expanded indictment also asks forfeiture of any proceeds Feldman “obtained directly or indirectly from racketeering activity.”
Judge Edward Rafeedie scheduled the trial for Jan. 14.
Feldman is free on $400,000 bail.
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