Case Description
Plaintiff District of Columbia brought a parens patriae bid rigging case against 12 real estate speculators. The District brought suit against the speculators in 1991, charging that they formed an auction pool to rig bids on real estate sold at public auction in the city. The suit claimed that the speculators then held private auctions among themselves for the same properties. The conspiracy allegedly began as early as 1976 and continued at least until October 1991. 10 defendants entered into court-approved settlement agreements and two
defendants had judgments entered against them. The settlement with the 10
defendants totaled $168,500. Judgments against the non-settling defendants totalled
$246,882.