Trent Gaines, a real estate investor from Georgia, has pleaded guilty on Tuesday for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and to commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions throughout the state.
Gaines admitted in the court that he conspired with other parties that they won't bid against one another at public real estate foreclosure auctions, from October 2008 to November 2010 in Fulton County, and from September 2006 to February 2011 in DeKalb County.
The press release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that Gaines also conspired with others to take advantage of the United States Postal Service, to carry out a scheme to fraudulently acquire title to selected Fulton and DeKalb properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert money to co-conspirators that should have gone to mortgage holders and others.
The selected properties from the scheme were then awarded to the conspirators who submitted the highest bids in private side auctions open only to Gaines and his co-conspirators.
Patch reported that the conspiracies were done in order to suppress and restrain competition, and to divert money to the conspirators that otherwise would have gone to pay off the mortgage and other holders of debt secured by the properties, and, in some cases, the defaulting homeowner.
Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department's Anti-trust Division said that the scheme of Gaines and his co-conspirators is the 10th prosecution against defendants for bid rigging at public foreclosure auctions in Georgia.
"Today's prosecution demonstrates the division's continuing commitment to vigorously prosecute domestic cartels and fraud, and to obtain justice for victims of anti-trust and fraud offenses," said Baer.
Special Agent in charge, J. Britt Johnson of the FBI's Atlanta Division, also mentioned that the case against Gaines "illustrates not only the problems regarding bid rigging at real estate auctions in Georgia, but also the federal efforts involved in shutting this type of criminal activity down."
