Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Bidder convicted in tax lien bid rigging probe sentenced to prison, (Mar 29, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:Crusader Servicing Corp.
By Jeffrey May, J.D.
The federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, has sentenced a former bidder for a Pennsylvania tax liens investment company to serve a prison term of 12 months and one day for conspiring to rig bids at New Jersey tax lien auctions. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced today that James Jeffers, Jr., of Burlington, New Jersey, also was ordered to pay a $25,000 criminal fine for his role in the conspiracy (U.S. v. Wolfson, Criminal No. 2:13-CR-00745).
Jeffers was indicted in November 2013 along with five other defendants for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids at auctions conducted by New Jersey municipalities for the sale of tax liens. According to the indictment, the defendants agreed to allocate among certain bidders which liens each would bid on. They allegedly proceeded to submit bids in accordance with the agreements and purchased tax liens at collusive and non-competitive interest rates, the Justice Department alleged.
Four of the five defendants who went to trial were acquitted in October 2015. Jeffers, a bidder for Crusader Servicing Corporation, was found guilty on one count of conspiring to submit collusive and non-competitive bids. The Pennsylvania-based company pleaded guilty in September 2012 to participating in the conspiracy.
Ongoing investigation. The case against Jeffers was the first to go to trial as a result of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging or fraud related to New Jersey municipal tax lien auctions. Including Jeffers, a total of 13 individuals and three companies have been convicted or have pleaded guilty as part of the investigation, according to the Justice Department.
Companies: Crusader Servicing Corp.
News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews