Bribery at foreclosure auction (Mass.)

Foreclosures, Short Sales, Tax Foreclosures
1

A registered bidder at foreclosure auction successfully bribed the other bidders into not bidding against him…so as not to bid up the bank’s opening bid against him. Is this coercion common? I’m a newbie.

Sounded illegal so I didn’t bite…although tempted. the briber outbid the bank’s opening bid & won a great deal, and paid the other bidders with $2500 checks after the auctioneer left. This was no joke.

2

I had seen this previously:

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f0400/0467.htm

3

I’ve also seen a few bidders working together to out bid the rest of the people there. I was just there observing but it seems pretty cut throat at these auctions.