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    Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: North Carolina Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Charges Arising from Foreclosure Auction Investigation , (Nov 9, 2012)

    By Jeffrey May, J.D.

    A second North Carolina real estate investor has pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from a Department of Justice investigation into bid rigging and other anticompetitive practices at real estate foreclosure auctions in eastern North Carolina. ...

    By Jeffrey May, J.D.

    A second North Carolina real estate investor has pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from a Department of Justice investigation into bid rigging and other anticompetitive practices at real estate foreclosure auctions in eastern North Carolina. Darren K. Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud on November 8, 2012 (U.S. v. Phillips, Criminal No. 5:12-cr-340-I).

    According to a one-count felony charge filed on October 4, 2012, in the federal district court in Greenville, North Carolina, Phillips conspired with other real estate speculators to fraudulently acquire title to rigged foreclosure properties offered through public auctions at artificially suppressed prices, to make and receive payoffs from co-conspirators, and to divert money away from financial institutions, homeowners, and others with interests in the rigged foreclosure properties. Philips is charged with participating in the conspiracy between February 2001 and May 2004.

    “By artificially suppressing auction prices through payoffs and other illegal actions, the conspirators profited at the expense of homeowners and financial institutions,” said Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program, in announcing the plea agreement. “The division will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate anticompetitive practices in real estate foreclosure auctions in North Carolina and elsewhere.”

    Phillips has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation. The charges against Phillips follow an action brought by the Justice Department in 2010 against Christopher J. Deans, another North Carolina real estate speculator (U.S. v. Deans, Criminal No. 5:10-CR-252-IH). Under aplea agreement, Deans agreed to serve a period of incarceration of not more than six months and to pay a criminal fine of $22,299.

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