Penguin Properties LLC, a Georgia real estate investment company, and its owner, Seth D. Lynn, have pleaded guilty to conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Georgia, according to the U.S. government.
The conspiracies, which took place from at least February 6, 2007, until at least January 3, 2012, involved Penguin Properties and Lynn conspiring with others not to bid against one another, but instead to designate a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Fulton County, Georgia.
The company and Lynn were also charged with a conspiracy to use the mail to carry out a scheme to fraudulently acquire title to selected Fulton County properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert money to co-conspirators that would have gone to mortgage holders and others by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy.
Charges were also brought against Penguin Properties and Lynn for their involvement in similar conspiracies in DeKalb County, Georgia, from at least as early as July 6, 2004, until at least January 3, 2012.
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 Fulton and DeKalb County public foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices, according to the government.
Penguin Properties and Lynn face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a $100 million fine for corporations under the Sherman Act. The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
A count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for an individual, and a fine of $500,000 for a corporation. The respective maximum fines for the conspiracy to commit mail fraud charge may be increased to twice the gross gain the conspirators derived from the crime or twice the gross loss caused to the victims of the crime by the conspirators.
The investigation is being conducted by Antitrust Division attorneys in Atlanta and the FBI’s Atlanta Division, with the assistance of the Atlanta Field Office.
The core of this case was about an unlevel field and one of unfairness with regard to the auction/bidding process of foreclosed properties, said Mark F. Giuliano, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.
Related Federal Cases
- Tabitha Dobi, Real Estate Scam, Georgia 2024 · Washington
- Gary Patton Hall, Jr., Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, Georgia 2010 · Georgia
- Kelli Durham, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Georgia 2012 · Georgia
- Greene Wylie Sheppard, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Aggravated Identity Theft, Georgia 2013 · Arkansas
- Edna Yvonne Orr Goff, Conspiracy to File False Federal Tax Returns and Aggravated Identity Theft, Georgia 2014 · Georgia
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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