San Ramon Real Estate Investor to Plead Guilty in Foreclosure Auction Fraud

A San Ramon man and two others have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions, the Dempartment of Justice announced Thursday.

Between 2008 and 2011, Hilton Wong of San Ramon, Barry Heisner of Brentwood and Dominic Leung of Alameda, conspired with others not to bid against one another at public real estate foreclosure auctions, according to court documents.

Instead, the investors designated a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Contra Costa County.

“The integrity of the real estate market depends on the transparency and fairness of all participants,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Douglas. “When individuals take advantage of the public’s trust to enrich themselves they damage the very foundation of our economy.The FBI is committed to working with our local and federal partners to continue to bring those who engage in anticompetitive activities to justice.”

The trio were also charged with several conspiracy charges involving the mail — to carry out a scheme to fraudulently acquire title to properties sold at public auctions, to make and receive payoffs, and to divert money to co-conspirators that would have gone to mortgage holders. They allegedly did the latter by holding second, private auctions open only to members of the conspiracy.

These are the latest cases filed by the Department of Justice in its ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.

So far, the investigation has yielded 20 plea agreements.