Pittsburgh man accused of defrauding customers with snow, ice removal business

Snow In this drone image, snow blankets a neighborhood, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in Cheektowaga, N.Y. Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 24 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.(John Waller via AP) (John Waller/AP)

By Taylor Spirito

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man was indicted in federal court for allegedly defrauding customers with his snow and ice removal business.

According to the Department of Justice, from December 2018 through March 2019, Charles W. Lantzman, 50, engaged in a scheme to defraud customers by padding the bills of customers with charges for services that were not performed.

The indictment includes six counts of wire fraud. Lantzman is also charged with three counts of money laundering.

For each of the wire fraud charges, Lantzman faced a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain to any person or loss to any person other than himself. The money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of ten years as well as a potential fine.

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