Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Two more Georgia real estate investors charged with bid rigging, (Dec 29, 2014)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s investigation into anticompetitive conduct at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia has netted two more investors. On December 23, charges were filed in the federal district court in Atlanta against Mohammad Adeel Yoonas and Kevin Shin for conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud (U.S. v. Yoonas, Case No. 1:14-cr-00451-TWT; U.S. v. Shin, Case No. 1:14-cr-00452-TWT).

The defendants bought properties at the auctions and then rented or resold those properties for profit. The government alleges that, between approximately April 2008 and March 2012, Yoomas conspired with other bidders not to bid against one another, but instead to designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at auctions in Georgia’s Gwinnett County. Yoomas also was charged with engaging in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud, during that time. Shin's involvement in the same conspiracies lasted from about March 2009 until March 2012.

Earlier charges. The charges against Yoomas and Shin bring to six the total number of conspirators named in the government's probe. In September 2013, the government announced its first action arising out of the investigation. Real estate investor Seth D. Lynn and his company, Penguin Properties, LLC, agreed to plead guilty to four-count felony charges.

The latest action prior to the December 23 filings was against Mohamed Hanif Omar. Omar pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids and to commit mail fraud. In October, Omar was sentenced to serve four months in prison and was fined $5,000. He also was ordered to pay restitution.

Companies: Penguin Properties LLC

News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews