Major housing fraud figure accused of ripping off investors pleads not guilty

CLEVELAND - A major housing fraud figure accused of ripping off investors and leaving behind scores of abandoned homes across Cleveland pleaded not guilty to fraud charges in an arraignment Wednesday morning.

Marc Tow was indicted last August following an exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation that exposed allegations of fraud involving Tow and his California-based company known as EZ Access Funding.

Tow appeared in a Cuyahoga County courtroom Wednesday morning. His bond was set at $1.5 million.

Investors alleged that Tow and a business associate encouraged them to invest in foreclosed homes in Cleveland with the promise that homes would be rehabbed and sold for profit.

Instead, investors say millions of dollars are missing and homes left abandoned -- without repairs.

Authorities were unable to find Tow until an extensive 5 On Your Side Investigation discovered him living in  Los Angeles.

Tow at the time blamed his business associate for what he called "the fraud."

Tow was extradited to Ohio and flown from a San Diego County jail Monday night after he was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents earlier in December.

Tow was crossing the border south of San Diego on the same day he was scheduled to appear in an Orange County, California courtroom on a fugitive warrant charges.