Anthony B. Joachim, Bid Rigging and Mail Fraud, California 2011

A real estate investor from Stockton, California, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Eastern California.

Anthony B. Joachim, 46, entered his guilty plea in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento. He was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on Dec. 7, 2011, along with three other investors – Andrew B. Katakis, Donald M. Parker and Wiley C. Chandler – and one auctioneer – W. Theodore Longley.

According to court documents, Joachim conspired with others not to bid against one another and to instead designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County. He was also charged with conspiring to use the mail to carry out a scheme to fraudulently acquire title to selected San Joaquin County properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs and to divert money to co-conspirators that would have otherwise gone to mortgage holders and others by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy.

The primary purpose of the conspiracies was to suppress and restrain competition and to conceal payoffs in order to obtain selected real estate offered at San Joaquin County public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices, the Department of Justice announced.

Joachim’s plea agreement states that he participated in the conspiracies between about April 2009 until about October 2009.

The Antitrust Division’s investigation into bid rigging and fraud involving real estate foreclosure auctions has resulted in 11 guilty pleas, including Joachim’s.

“Today’s plea is the 11th in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation of bid rigging and fraud involving real estate foreclosure auctions in the Eastern District of California,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. “The division has uncovered similar schemes across the country and continues to prosecute those who profit by undermining competition at real estate foreclosure auctions.”

Joachim pleaded guilty to bid rigging, a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

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