NC Real Estate Operator Cops Guilty Plea To Foreclosure Bid Rigging Claims; Conduct Suppressed Sale Prices, Screwing Lienholders, Homeowners: Feds

From the U.S. Department of Justice:

• A Raleigh, N.C., real estate speculator pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids for public real estate foreclosure auctions held in multiple counties in eastern North Carolina, the Department of Justice announced [].

• Christopher J. Deans pleaded guilty [] in U.S. District Court in Greenville, N.C., for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids during the real estate foreclosure auction process in eastern North Carolina from at least as early as April 2003 until at least April 2005.

***

• According to the charge, which was filed on July 29, 2010, Deans, an owner of Raleigh-based real estate investment companies, and co-conspirators agreed not to bid against each other during public real estate foreclosure auctions in eastern North Carolina. As part of the conspiracy, Deans and co-conspirators paid one another not to bid on foreclosed properties and received economic benefits from the rental and sale of real estate purchased through the rigged foreclosure auction process.

• The conspiracy resulted in the suppression of competitive bidding on foreclosed properties which caused foreclosing lienholders and certain homeowners to receive a lower price for properties sold through foreclosure actions, the department said.

For the DOJ press release, see North Carolina Real Estate Speculator Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging in Real Estate Foreclosure Auctions.

Go here for other posts & links on bid rigging at foreclosure and tax sale auctions.

(1) According to DOJ, the charge against Deans is the first to arise in an ongoing federal antitrust investigation of fraud and bidding irregularities in certain real estate auctions in the Eastern District of North Carolina. DOJ states that the investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Atlanta Field Office and the FBI, and urges anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s Atlanta Field Office at 404-331-7100 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.