Albert Lea used car dealer facing felony tax charges

(Albert Lea, MN) – A beleaguered used car dealer from Albert Lea has a new set of troubles.

Timothy Brian Mann, 44, was charged in Freeborn County Court last week with felony counts of tax evasion, tax fraud, and filing a false application for a certificate of title.

According to the criminal complaint, Mann has filed multiple registration applications with the state that contained false information about vehicles he’s sold at his dealership, Mann Motors.  The investigation has revealed that Mann sold approximately 156 vehicles with underreported sales tax collected by the dealership, for a total of $42,706.25.

Investigators became aware of the situation after the Minnesota State Patrol received a complaint from the office of Driver and Vehicle Services.  A woman reported that her son had bought a vehicle for $4,995 from Mann, but when her child went to DVS to transfer the title, the purchase price had been misstated as $2,995.  Her son’s signature had also been forged on the application, according to the complaint.

At the time the criminal complaint was signed, state troopers had received statements for four people who identified Mann as the person who had sold them a car.  Bills of sale and corresponding applications show altered and falsely reported information for the sales prices and tax collected, according to the complaint.

Mann is familiar face in the Freeborn County court system.  About a year ago, he was accused of offering to forgive women late payments on their vehicles in exchange for sex acts.   Several months later, a new round of charges followed after a woman reported Mann had exposed himself to her and insinuated he wanted oral sex in exchange for her license plates.