Head Sacramento Fed: Latest Bid-Rigging Convictions "Not Going To Be The Last That You Hear About These Types Of Prosecutions!"

In Northern California, CBS 5 reports:

• For those who are losing their homes to foreclosure, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. But some homeowners may have lost their homes to investors cheating on the courthouse steps. Richard Northcutt and Yama Marifat are part of a ring of at least six men who have pled guilty to a new kind of foreclosure fraud called “bid-rigging.”
• It all started on the courthouse steps in Stockton, where there are thousands of foreclosures up for bid. It’s a fast-paced world where cash is king, and the highest bidder nabs the best deal. With that much money swirling, federal officials say some people cheat.

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• It was a temptation Marifat and Northcutt couldn’t resist. Both have admitted to making hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bid rigging scheme. “This is not going to be the last that you hear about these types of prosecutions,” said [U.S. Attorney Benjamin] Wagner.(1)

For more, see New Kind Of Foreclosure Fraud Sweeping California.

Go here for other posts & links on bid rigging at foreclosure and other real estate-related auctions.

(1) In Northern California, anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-436-6660, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California at 916-554-2700 or the FBI’s Sacramento Division at 916-481-9110.