Northern California Real Estate Investor Sentenced To Prison For Rigging Bids At Public Foreclosure Auctions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — After being convicted at trial, a Northern California real estate investor was sentenced today for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions, the Department of Justice announced.

Glenn Guillory was charged on Dec. 3, 2014, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California. Guillory was convicted on April 17, 2017, of conspiring to rig bids at real estate foreclosure auctions in Contra Costa County. Today, Guillory was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison and to serve three years of supervised release. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Guillory was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $20,000.

Between June 2008 and January 2011, Guillory conspired with others not to bid against one another for selected properties, instead designating a winning bidder to win the property at the auction. The members of the conspiracy then held second, private auctions to award the properties to members of the conspiracy and determine payoffs for those who had agreed not to bid against one another at the public auctions. The private auctions often took place at or near the courthouse steps where the public auctions were held.

The sentence is a result of an ongoing investigation into bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions in California’s San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. These investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s San Francisco Office.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to public real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office at 415-934-5300 or call the FBI tip line at 415-553-7400.