Feds use Internet to auction seized car

Jace Radke

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001 | 8:44 a.m.

The U.S. Marshals Service is looking for consumers to make a deal for a devil.

The federal agency is auctioning off a 1999 Lamborghini Diablo Roadster valued at more than $237,000. The car was seized in Las Vegas as part of an FBI investigation into an investment scheme.

The Diablo was seized in January after FBI agents stationed in Santa Ana, Calif., made an arrest in connection with a Ponzi scheme, a scam in which funds paid to investors are used to pay artificially high returns to original investors.

On Aug. 23 the Diablo was forfeited to the marshals, and the car will be auctioned off on the Internet at bid4assets.com, Deputy U.S. Marshal Leonard Boyer said. The auction will begin Tuesday and will run through Nov. 27, with a minimum starting bid of $184,000.

A portion of the money raised in the auction could be used to help reimburse the victims of the Ponzi scheme, and the rest of the money will go to the marshals' asset forfeiture fund, Boyer said.

"The fund is used to help maintain our assets and properties, and can also be used as part of an equitable sharing program that allows local law enforcement to apply for funds," Boyer said.

Bid4assets.com has held more than 50 auctions for the marshals service, including the sale of a Dodge Viper, bought by an Olympic gold medalist.

"Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner bought that one," Boyer said. "The Internet has been a good place for us to auction these types of high-end used items. We don't really have the market here locally, so we use the Internet."

The Diablo, complete with a titanium finish and black leather interior, has 9,364 miles. Officials with the marshals service say there have been more than 31,000 hits on the Lamborghini since it has been featured on the website.