As his trial date nears, former Chattanooga auto dealership mogul Joseph Prebul has abandoned all negotiations with the government regarding the multiple fraud charges he faces.

According to court filings, U.S. prosecutors in New York City have informed the trial judge that "the defendant has declined the government's plea offer and intends to proceed to trial on Nov. 16."

Mr. Prebul remains charged in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.

Mr. Prebul's defense attorney, Maurice Sercarz, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press previously that Mr. Prebul would "never" consider pleading guilty to any of the charges against him.

The government alleges that he swindled his New York-based brother-in-law out of millions of dollars, in part to save Mr. Prebul's auto dealerships in Chattanooga and North Georgia.

Details of the plea deal offered by the government have not been made public. Mr. Sercarz declined to comment on the details, but said Thursday they are "ready for trial."

Mr. Prebul's business empire crumbled in February, beginning with his arrest on the criminal charges, which was followed by a civil lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court by brother-in-law and alleged victim Danny Bensusan.

Two bankruptcy procedures followed within a matter of days and currently are under way in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Chattanooga.

Most of Mr. Prebul's former dealerships have been sold off. Court records show Mr. Prebul owes more than $200,000 to creditors in a bankruptcy action involving his personal finances.

But Mr. Prebul's criminal trial is poised to be the climax of the family drama that started when Mr. Bensusan alleged that the prominent Chattanooga businessman tricked him into loaning him cash for supposed investment into a high-interest bearing account with Chrysler.

Federal investigators believe Mr. Prebul actually poured about $7 million of Mr. Bensusan's money into his own dealerships and also used some of the cash for personal living expenses, according to the criminal indictment.

Mr. Prebul has launched an aggressive defense both in local civil and federal criminal court, calling Mr. Bensusan an extortionist who orchestrated the criminal charges against him because Mr. Prebul could not immediately repay what he characterized as millions of dollars in "loans."

"We will have to do whatever we have to do to protect Danny's interests," an agent for Mr. Bensusan told Mr. Prebul in September 2008, according to documents filed in local civil court. "The time for negotiating has ended and we either get this resolved now, or the chips will start to fall."