For both stations, the bidding opened Saturday and ends April 8, said the report. No bids had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, but typically there are not any for such properties until the [image-nocss] final few days, Kyle Cielak of Great Lakes Auction Co., Milwaukee, which is running the sale, told the newspaper.
The two stations went through foreclosure after their owner, Chaudhry Asif Rana, was charged in federal court with mortgage bank fraud, the report said. According to the indictment, Rana created false records to have an employee buy homes and lease gas stations in 2003, taking a cut for himself. Rana had faced up to 20 years in prison when he was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2008. The charges were later dropped, the Journal Sentinel said.
Cielak said that within the past year or two, the auction business has changed so that now a majority of Great Lakes' auctions are done online only, or online along with a traditional live auction. "It's suited us pretty well. We get bidders from all over the U.S. and the world," he said.
To avoid one bidder swooping in at the last minute, the bidding deadline is extended for 10 minutes if a bid is made 10 minutes or less before the deadline. The 10-minute extensions continue until no more bids are made, he said.
Great Lakes Auction's website is www.greatlakesauction.net.
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