WHEELING – A Wheeling businessman will spend nearly three years in federal prison for bilking more than 50 people out of approximately $400,000 and for filing false income tax returns.

Senior status U.S. District Judge Frederick Stamp imposed the sentence Monday on Mark Busack, 53, of Bellaire, who pleaded guilty in December to four counts of use of an unauthorized access device and one count of filing a false income tax return.

Stamp said the sentence was in the mid-range of federal advisory sentencing guidelines.

At a Dec.17 plea hearing, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said the offenses could result in a maximum sentence of 43 years in prison and $1.1 million in fines.

Stamp also sentenced Busack, who has no criminal record, to three years of supervised release upon his discharge from prison. There are no fines.

While Busack has paid back many of his victims, some restitution issues remain and Stamp set Sept. 24 for an evidentiary hearing to address those items. Six victims went to the witness stand Monday to recount how Busack victimized them.

One said she and her husband had a good working relationship with Busack until he called and advised them to refinance their home. He then drew thousands out of their account during the mortgage transaction.

Another woman said Busack charged $78,800 on her credit cards. Another man said his wife lost her job and her health failed as a result of stress caused by Busack’s deeds.

Others told similar stories of how they trusted Busack and he used that trust to gain access to their accounts.

One woman said she was on vacation with she learned that $9,000 had been charged to her card. In the end, Busack ran up $17,000 worth of charges on her accounts. She said when she confronted Busack about the matter, he threatened to sue her.

“He cheated his victims with lies and deceit,” a woman said.

“This is not a case when paying back the money takes care of everything,” Ihlenfeld said. “In some cases he berated his customers and made them afraid of him.”

The four counts stem from fraudulent transactions on April 16, 2013 involving $2,400 from a victim identified as W.C.; June 18, 2013, $2,400 from a victim identified as W.W.; July 7, 2013, $2,420 from a victim identified as Z.L.; and July 23, 2013, $2,440 from a victim identified as S.K.

The investigation included a raid on Busack’s Bethany Pike businesses in January when agents armed with a search warrant confiscated thousands of documents. Busack’s businesses include the former A Plus Family Home Mortgage, That’s Italian Specialty Foods, Bethany Pike Car Wash and Hole In One Wings And Catering.