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Defendant Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging and Bank Fraud
A Georgia real estate investor has pleaded guilty to his role in bid-rigging and bank fraud conspiracies in connection with public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia.
According to court documents, Otto Gogolin agreed not to bid against other real estate investors at certain public real estate foreclosure auctions in an effort to subvert the competitive process.
Gogolin and his co-conspirators allegedly defrauded banks that owned the mortgage notes by artificially suppressing the prices of properties sold at certain public real estate foreclosure auctions.
The conspirators allegedly held secret ‘second auctions’ of properties they had obtained through rigged bids and then divided the auction proceeds that otherwise would have gone to pay off the mortgage and other secured debt holders and, in some cases, to the previous owner of the foreclosed home.
As a result of the guilty plea, Gogolin faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1 million, and a term of supervised release.
This case is part of the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraudulent schemes involving real estate foreclosure auctions in the Atlanta area.
The charges have been filed as a result of the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal II Section, the FBI’s Atlanta Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, in connection with the president’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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