3 California men convicted in scheme to buy foreclosed properties
Three Northern California men, including one of Oakland's largest landlords, were convicted Friday of creating a massive bid-rigging scheme to scoop up hundreds of foreclosed properties at suppressed prices, U.S. Department of Justice officials said. A federal jury convicted Michael Marr, Javier Sanchez and Gregory Casorso of conspiring to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Alameda County between June 2008 and January 2011 – at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis.