Feds Take Down Another Investor In Mobile Foreclosure Sale Bid Rigging Probe; Suspect Agrees To Plea Guilty, Serve 6 Months, 'Sing' Against Others

From the U.S. Department of Justice:

• An Alabama real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama, the Department of Justice announced today.  To date, as a result of the ongoing investigation, three individuals and one company have pleaded guilty.
• Charges were filed [] in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile, Ala., against Lawrence B. Stacy of Mobile.  Stacy was charged with one count of bid rigging and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
• According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Stacy has agreed to serve six months in prison.  Additionally, Stacy has agreed to pay a $10,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.
• According to court documents, Stacy conspired with others not to bid against one another at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama.  After a designated bidder bought a property at the public auctions, which typically take place at the county courthouse, the conspirators would generally hold a secret, second auction, at which each participant would bid the amount above the public auction price he or she was willing to pay.  The highest bidder at the secret, second auction won the property.

For the Justice Department press release, see Alabama Real Estate Investor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Conspiracies to Rig Bids and Commit Mail Fraud for the Purchase of Real Estate at Public Foreclosure Auctions.