Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Another Georgia real estate investor pleads guilty to role in bid rigging, bank fraud conspiracies, (Aug 19, 2016)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

Twenty-three defendants have now been charged as a result of the ongoing Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigation of public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia. Today, the Justice Department announced that Otto Gogolin, a Georgia real estate investor, pleaded guilty for his role in bid rigging and bank fraud conspiracies in connection with the auctions. A two-count information was filed in the federal district court in Atlanta on August 17 (U.S. v. Gogolin, Case No. 2:16-cr-00018-UNA).

Gogolin has admitted that he agreed not to bid against other real estate investors at foreclosure auctions in Georgia’s Forsyth County, which is north of Atlanta. In addition, he admitted to conspiring to defraud banks that owned the mortgage notes. The defendant participated in the conspiracies from July 2008 to December 2011. Gogolin’s co-conspirators were not named in the court documents.

Plea agreement. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Gogolin has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. The government will recommend a prison sentence of approximately eight to 14 months and a fine between $2,000 and $20,000. The defendant also will be asked to pay restitution. The court has discretion to accept or reject the government’s recommendations.

Ongoing investigation. Of the 23 defendants charged in the Georgia foreclosure auction investigation, 21 have either pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty, according to the Justice Department. Among those who have not pleaded guilty is Douglas L. Purdy. Like Gogolin, Purdy was charged with conspiring to rig bids and commit bank fraud with respect to Forsyth County foreclosure auctions in a multi-count indictment filed in the federal district court in Atlanta in February 2016. Purdy was allegedly involved in the scheme from 2008 to 2012.

Attorneys: Collin F. Delaney for U.S. Department of Justice. Drew Findling (Findling Law Firm) for Otto Gogolin.

News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews