FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
WWW.JUSTICE.GOV AT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
NORTH CAROLINA REAL ESTATE SPECULATOR PLEADS GUILTY TO
BID RIGGING IN REAL ESTATE FORECLOSURE AUCTIONS
WASHINGTON — 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 today.
Christopher J. Deans pleaded guilty today 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. The primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress and eliminate competitive bidding on foreclosed properties and obtain selected real estate offered at public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices.
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.
The bid rigging violation with which Deans is charged carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
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. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Atlanta Field Office and the FBI.
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.
Source: DOJ
They should check out Florida.
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Big deal !!! The houses shouldn’t have been foreclosed on to begin with. I have been told by attorneys that North Carolina is the most corrupt state in the nation from government officials, the Department of Injustice, and of course the judges.
The clerk of court in each county decides on foreclosure which they do almost 100% of the time. I was in a hearing last week with five letters from Bank of America and/or its’ attorney saying BOA is not my lender, not my creditor and not my note holder. The Clerk of Court in Union County, J. R. Rowell refused to look at those letters, and ordered foreclosure based on a foreclosure affidavit created by a company not related to the bank and not on the bank’s letterhead.
I believe North Carolina is the only state that allows a person to be a dishwasher in a local McDonald’s one day, and made a Judge the day after election.
It’s a terrible, lawless State run by the Banksters.
Its as if the authorities seek to camoulage harsh reality thru limited disclosre of the facts.
The pretender lenders where using courthouse steps nationwide to facilitate “fictitious auctions” that would be used to evidence a legit foreclosure to mislead a judicial official.
This is a “constant” in many mortgage fraud cases as MERS and the “foreclosure by advertising” method encouraged this type of activity.
I have personally witnessed alleged “auctions” that had NO participants an reported the matter to a Federal Judge.
That was almost a year ago.
Again, wake me up when someone files a RICO.