Bruce Leyte, seen being escorted to court in Corner Brook last November, has pleaded guilty to mischief and fraud. (CBC)

A Newfoundlander who led searchers and his own family to believe he had committed suicide almost three years ago has pleaded guilty to charges arising from the faked death.

Bruce Leyte pleaded guilty in provincial court Tuesday to charges of mischief and fraud over $5,000.

Leyte, 57, made national headlines last November when he was arrested at a St. John's apartment on a warrant for tax fraud and details of his disappearance came to light.

Leyte had vanished in August 2006, when searchers found a suicide note in an abandoned truck by the Humber River, outside Corner Brook.

Searchers sought Leyte's body in the Humber for several days.

Police say Leyte moved to British Columbia and lived under another identity before making his way to St. John's.

The fraud charge relates to an investigation that police launched before Leyte faked his own death and involves his dealings with Scotiabank.

Leyte is scheduled to return to court for sentencing March 20, although he still faces more troubles, including 17 criminal charges laid in provincial court in St. John's.

RCMP in Lumby, B.C., recently laid five charges — including fraud, false pretence and impersonation — after a former business partner learned that the man he knew as James Royual was in fact Leyte.