Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Georgia real estate auction bid rigging probe nets another investor, (Apr 27, 2016)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

Another Georgia real estate investor has been charged with rigging bids on foreclosed properties sold at public auctions in the state. Jon Stovall, Jr. was named in a two-count information filed last week in the federal district court in Atlanta. Stovall waived indictment and was ordered released on a $10,000 bond (U.S. v. Stovall, Criminal No. 1:16-cr-00131-WSD).

According to the charges, Stovall engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids at the real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia's Fulton County. The defendant also was charged with participating in a related conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The alleged conduct took place between October 2008 and January 2012.

Stovall is purportedly a co-conspirator of other investors charged in the government's probe of anticompetitive conduct at Georgia foreclosure auctions. Among Stovall's alleged co-conspirators are Seth D. Lynn, Eric Hulsman, David Wedean, and Trent Gaines. Each of these individuals has either pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty to similar charges. As a result of the alleged conspiracy, the individuals were able to fraudulently acquire title to rigged foreclosure properties at artificially suppressed prices, according to the government.

Ongoing probe. More than a dozen individuals have been charged in the ongoing probe. Prior to the charge against Stovall, the most recent actions were indictments against Douglas L. Purdy and Clifford Wayne Hill in February. Those pending charges included bid rigging and bank fraud counts.

Attorneys: David Lee for U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Manubir Arora (Arora & LaScala) for Jon Stovall, Jr.

News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews