treasury auction

Ponzi Schemer's Luxury Cars Go Up For Auction

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Crimes and Misdemeanors

As our sibling site Autoblog mentioned earlier, the luxury cars of Ponzi schemer Byron Keith Brown are headed to auction in Maryland. Brown was convicted and given 15 years in prison for a scam that cost people a total of $17 million. The Baltimore Sun reported that the cars are being sold on March 1 as part of an auction run for the U.S. Treasury Department. Proceeds will be added to the U.S. Treasury's Asset Forfeiture Fund and net proceeds derived from the assets will be available as restitution for the victims of Brown's crimes.

Brown ran a company called "In God We Trust Financial Services" and several others under different names in Virginia and Maryland pushing an investment scheme that gave the appearance that people were sending him up to $1 million. Brown spent his money of a variety of flashy cars including a 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago, a 2005 Rolls Royce Phantom, a 2004 Mercedes Benz Maybach 57, a 2006 Aston Martin and many more. A total of 17 cars are being sold, the complete list is at Mahheim Auctions. The auction takes place at the Manheim Baltimore-Washington location, 7120 Dorsey Run Road, Elkridge, MD, 21075.

Make sure you don't get caught in a Ponzi scheme, check out the tips below on how to avoid shady investments.

Tags: byron keith brown, ponzi scheme, ponzi schemer, treasury auction

Anne Hathaway's Jewelry Heads To Government Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Looks like an upcoming government auction will feature some jewelry that once belonged to Anne Hathaway. The jewelry, along with Rolex watches, a Tiffany clock and a Cartier figurine were owned by her ex-boyfriend, fraudster Raffaello Follieri. The goods were bought with money generated from his illegal activities and represent ill-gotten gains. The items will be sold at a government auction and the U.S. government will keep the cash. Hathaway broke up with Follieri in June 2008 and turned items over to the FBI. Follieri remains in federal prison serving a 4 1/2 year prison sentence on 14 felony counts. The Smoking Gun has FBI evidence photos of the inventory prepared by federal investigators, The jewelry's total value has not been disclosed.

[via LA Times]

Tags: anne hathaway, fraud, fraudsters, government auction, Raffaello Follieri, treasury auction

What Goes On At A U.S. Treasury Auction?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

We've covered a lot of government auctions on this site and I'd always been curious about attending one so I jumped at the chance to check out the action in person attending the U.S. Treasury Public Auction put on by Rick Levin & Associates and VSE Corporation at the VSE warehouse in Riverside, California on June 9. There are quite a few differences between this type of auction and an auction house event.All the action takes place in the room, there are no phone banks or online bidding. Registered bidders receive their numbers and stake out a place in metal folding chairs in a slice of the warehouse that has been walled off. There's no ambiance here, people are looking for one thing, a real bargain.

Tags: auction, government auction, rick levin, treasury auction

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