Des Moines developer Jeff Young pleads guilty in fraud case, will pay $28,400 in restitution

Prominent Des Moines Developer Jeff Young is scheduled to plead guilty to fraud charges after dramatically underreporting the value of five cars he bought, and will pay a penalty that is more than double the amount the government alleged he tried to save himself in registration fees.

Young, 57, entered a written guilty plea Friday to five counts of fraudulent practice in the third degree, an aggravated misdemeanor. He agreed to pay $28,400 in restitution to the Iowa Department of Revenue, as well as $4,200 in court fees. 

He did not return multiple calls seeking comment over the last week.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Department of Transportation, Young underreported the value of the five vehicle purchases by a combined $309,400 between May 2017 and September 2019, saving himself $15,500 in registration fees.

The Iowa Department of Transportation charged him in November with fraudulent practice in the second degree, a felony. As part of his plea agreement with the county attorney's office, Young will not face any prison time or probation. If he fails to pay, according to the agreement, he will be ordered to serve a year on probation.

The five charges against Young carried a combined maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Jason Maahs, the deputy director of the bureau of investigation and identity protection at the Department of Transportation, said the charges came after Young requested a review of the vehicle identification numbers for some of his automobiles. Maahs said this is a common practice after someone buys an older car that does not have an Iowa title. Among other issues, the government wants to make sure no one had previously reported the vehicle as stolen.

During the research, Maahs said, a Department of Transportation investigator looked into the vehicle registrations with the Polk County Treasurer's Office and saw that Young had misreported the purchase price of five vehicles, all of which he bought from Barrett Jackson Auction.

According to the criminal complaint, Young reported buying a 1988 Specially Constructed Atlantis Roadster for $9,600 instead of the actual purchase price of $105,600. He also allegedly reported buying a 1965 Shelby Cobra for $10,000 when he actually bought it for $110,000.

Young, president of We Can Build It, is the developer behind some highly anticipated redevelopment projects in Des Moines. The most ambitious is a major renovation, announced last year, of the former Franklin Junior High School, located at the nexus of the Beaverdale, Merle Hay and Waveland Park neighborhoods. He bought the building in 2018 for $2 million.

The project would turn old classrooms into hotel rooms and office spaces. He also wants to build a restaurant, brewery, outdoor cafe, garden and multiple events venues at the old school.

Included in the project is renovation of an auditorium formerly used by a megachurch that occupied the property after the school closed. Dubbed the Benjamin Events Center, it can hold up to 4,300 people, and Young said he hopes it will become a destination for musicians looking for an indoor, mid-sized venue instead of the 17,000-seat Wells Fargo Arena downtown.

Young told the Des Moines Register in January that his first event at the building was scheduled for March.

His $28,000 restitution fee will likely go to the state's Road Use Tax Fund, Department of Revenue Spokesman John Fuller said in an email. The state uses this money to maintain highways, county roads and city streets.

Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Register. Contact him at 515-284-8215 and tjett@registermedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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