BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - Valley lawmakers are sending a letter to the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, asking them to investigate Kohan Retail Investment Group for fraudulent activity.

Boardman Township trustees and valley lawmakers are sending a letter to the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, asking them to investigate Kohan Retail Investment Group for fraudulent activity at the Southern Park Mall. 

Trustees Steve Yacavone Thomas Costello and Larry Moliterno, as well as Congressman Mike Rulli, Ohio Representative Tex Fischer and Senator Al Cutrona, have all signed the letter. 

The letter outlines the issues Boardman officials have had since Kohan bought the mall, including their multiple failed attempts to pay their property taxes. 

In the letter, officials point out that checks were “dishonored" and "bounced repeatedly,” and say the delinquent payments “could constitute a misuse of funds, an attempt to shrink tax responsibility, or possible mismanagement or misrepresentation of their financial obligations.”

Yacavone said the bounced checks are very concerning.

“There's a responsibility right. They benefit from the citizens of this town of Mahoning County, and they should be held responsible and pay their taxes, and they shouldn't be sending us checks that they either know we're going to bounce or that are likely to bounce,” said Yacovone. 

The letter also claims there is potential for lost tax revenue for the township and its taxpayers due to the property tax delinquency of the major commercial real estate asset.

Kohan currently owes $948,118.84 in unpaid taxes at the Southern Park Mall in Boardman.

"The possibility that a business of this size is not paying what it owes, or is doing so in a way that violates the law, undermines public trust and harms the local government and community," the letter states.

Yacovone said the trustees are continuing to be ignored by Kohan, despite multiple attempts to reach out.

“The fact that we have no direct communication, the fact that they're not even reaching out to us and giving us some direction, some idea of when those property taxes would be paid. It's just, it's very frustrating on behalf of the township,” said Yacovone.

During the Boardman Township trustees meeting Tuesday, Moliterno said the administration will continue looking at ways to hold Kohan responsible.

“We are all extremely disappointed and concerned with the direction that the new owners of the mall have taken, and we continue to talk about what our options are,” said Moliterno.

The letter requests that Yost's office open an investigation into Kohan and his fraudulent practices, determine whether they engaged in a pattern of misconduct and take appropriate legal action if necessary.