Igor Olenicoff, founder and president of Newport Beach-based Olen Properties Corp., pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge relating to the billionaire developer’s long-running tax dispute with the government.
The government last month charged Olenicoff with one felony count of willful filing of a false 2002 tax return.
Edward Robbins Jr., Olenicoff’s lawyer, said the developer agreed earlier this month to plead guilty to the low-level charge, under an agreement recently filed with the courts.
A hearing was held Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana.
Olenicoff could face a maximum prison term of six months under terms of the agreement, according to reports. Sentencing will take place in April.
Robbins, a lawyer with Beverly Hills-based Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez PC, said prison time is unlikely, given the nature of the crime and terms of the plea agreement.
Olenicoff, who is estimated to have a net worth of about $1.7 billion, will also have to settle IRS claims for about $50 million in back taxes and penalties as part of the plea agreement.
The deal with the government would appear to resolve a long-running dispute between Olenicoff and tax authorities.
The Russian-born Olenicoff has claimed in the past that overseas entities, some with ties to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, were behind much of Olen’s operations, with his own fortunes well below IRS estimates.
Olen owns some 6 million square feet of commercial properties across the country, along with more than 10,000 apartments.
