Luxury cars, diamond jewelry and flat-screen TVs purchased by Luis H. Rivas are among the items being auctioned Sept. 27 to put money in the former Chattanooga security trader’s bankruptcy asset fund to be given to creditors.
Mr. Rivas is charged with 19 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, criminal monetary transactions and bankruptcy fraud, and is accused of taking millions of dollars from almost 500 investors across the country, records show. He used that money for extravagant purchases, the indictment states.
Bankruptcy Trustee Grey Steed has spent time tracking down the items Mr. Rivas bought and gave as gifts to employees, a wife and two girlfriends. Through demand letters and lawsuits, the court obtained some — but not all — of Mr. Rivas’ purchases. Mr. Steed estimates that at least 12 cars still are being sought, and he warned dealerships not to purchase any vehicles whose titles list “Forex Project” as an owner.
In all, about $2.2 million has been recovered, and Mr. Steed said he does not know how high that total will reach.
Most of the assets were recovered locally, he said.
“The biggest reason (the auction is) being held in Chattanooga is most of the items were recovered from the Chattanooga area and Mr. Rivas has more notoriety in Chattanooga,” he said.
The auction at Camp Jordan Arena in East Ridge will feature BMWs, Jaguars, a Hummer, an Audi convertible, Ford Mustangs and a Ford Shelby Cobra.
Car auctions will begin at noon, said Mark Gravitt, president of Gravitt Auction, Inc. The company has no way to gauge how many people will attend, he said.
“The state of the economy right now is going to have an impact on it,” Mr. Gravitt said. “You never know how many are going to show up from one auction to the next.”
He said he expects the auction to last until about 3 or 4 p.m. Guns, which are from another bankruptcy case, are being auctioned but were not purchased by Mr. Rivas.
Another auction of Rivas items is expected, though the Sept. 27 auction will be the largest, Mr. Steed said.
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