Friday, June 24, 2016

Antitrust Feds Bag One More In Ongoing Probe Into Bid Rigging At Public Foreclosure Auctions In Southern Alabama

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Justice announced:
  • An Alabama real estate investor pleaded guilty for his role in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in southern Alabama, the Department of Justice announced [].

    Adrian J. Beach admitted that he conspired with others to, among other things, defraud financial institutions, homeowners and others with a legal interest in rigged foreclosure properties, out of proceeds from foreclosure auctions. Beach is charged with participating in the conspiracy from January 2004 through March 2010. Financial institutions and homeowners suffered monetary losses as a result of the conspiracy.
    ***
    Beach is the fourteenth defendant prosecuted in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation of bid rigging and other fraudulent conduct in the Alabama real estate foreclosure industry.

    The investigation into fraud and bid rigging in the Alabama real estate foreclosure industry is being conducted by the Washington Criminal II Section of the Antitrust Division, and the FBI’s Mobile Field Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.

    Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Washington Criminal II Section of the Antitrust Division at 202-598-4000, call the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.