Capital Briefs: Guilty Plea in $1 Million FDIC Car Swindle

A Texas motorcycle dealer has pleaded guilty to using bogus Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. assets to rip off investors.

Danny D. Meister pleaded guilty Nov. 20 in federal district court in Fort Worth to stealing $360,000 from an investor who thought the money would be used to buy property from the FDIC, according to the agency's inspector general.

Mr. Meister's company, Motor Works of Arlington Inc. in Pantego, Tex., pleaded guilty to similarly swindling investors of more than $506,000, the inspector general said.

The government charged in mid-October that Mr. Meister and Motor Works persuaded at least eight investors to hand over $1 million to buy late- model Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars as well as other property from the FDIC at discounted prices, the government said. The property never existed, and he pocketed the money, the government said.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 6. -Dean Anason