KSL News

SALT LAKE CITY -- Next month, a most unusual automobile auction will take place. If you're looking for something classic or exotic, you'll have a chance to bid on it.

It's a huge collection of vehicles owned by an alleged white-collar criminal who will soon go to trial in Utah.

Right now, the vehicles are stored in an old, narrow, brick warehouse in Salt Lake. It's a stunning sight at first: side by side, bumper to bumper, from one end of the building to the other; millions of dollars worth of vehicles.

Over the past year, the cars, trucks and bikes were confiscated by the U.S. Marshals Service.

"We regularly seize vehicles and properties, but this is by far the largest collection that we've ever seized," said Dan Juergens, Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Utah district.

When a federal criminal case involving stolen property is wrapped up, the ill-gotten items are sold at auction.

Rob Olson, owner of Erkelens & Olson Auctioneers in Salt Lake, has the contract to conduct the auctions for the U.S. Marshals Utah district. He said this will be the biggest vehicle collection he's ever had to auction, and he was astounded when he first saw it.

"We were like kids in a candy store," Olson said. "We would open up a storage door and couldn't believe what we saw in front of us. We'd put that door down and go to the next and say, ‘Wow! It just gets better.'"

What makes this collection even more interesting is that all of the vehicles -- close to 300 in all -- is their connection to Mowen. He's facing charges in an alleged Ponzi scheme where hundreds of investors lost $18 million.

Prosecutors also charged Mowen with trying to get a fellow Davis County inmate to kill four people who were scheduled to testify against him. He pleaded not guilty in a hearing earlier this week.

Investigators located Mowen's vehicles all over Utah.

"We picked up vehicles from different mechanics shops that the individual dropped them off at; a lot of them from storage units; we actually went to residences of individuals that had given vehicles to. You name it, we found vehicles just about everywhere you can think of," Juergens said.

Mercedes, Bentley, Desoto: classic, collectors and exotics make up this collection.

"I'm a third-generation auctioneer," Olson said. "This is the nicest collection I've ever seen -- ever."

Two auctions are planned to sell all of the vehicles: one on Jan. 7, and the other on Jan. 21. The location is still to be determined.

Hundreds of people are expected to make bids on all the items. Olson expects every vehicle to sell. The auction should bring in several million dollars, which will be returned to Mowen's investors.

KSL News

SALT LAKE CITY -- Car parts, warehouse equipment and heavy-duty machinery were all sold Tuesday as one of Utah's largest distributors of car parts went through a bankruptcy auction.

Number One International went bankrupt last summer, just as the auto industry starting seeing a huge downturn. The auctioneer said there was about $3 million worth of stuff, and most of it sold, though for much less. This auction is just another sign of the down economy; but even then, one business's bad fortune means a good deal for other businesses. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. As a result, the court ordered it to auction off everything in its warehouse to pay off debt.

Auctioneer Rob Olson said, "Overall, bankruptcy auctions are on the rise, and we have seen more, and it's just the state of the economy."

While the state of the economy forced a business like Number One International to fold, for others, like Barker's import cabinet business, auctions like these are good.

Jeff Barker, president of Liberty Distribution Int'l, said, "We got a good deal on a forklift. We got some pallets and stuff we'll be needing when we expand to our new warehouse in the next coming months."

Everything in the warehouse was for sale, not just car parts. Barker says bankruptcy auctions are a great place to find those high-dollar items like forklifts, racking and assembly lines for cheap. "You really gotta know what you're looking for, and you gotta know the value before you even start," Barker said.

But with items that aren't so expensive, Barker said you really have to know what you're buying. "They get caught up in the emotion of it, and then they end up bidding two, three, even four times what it's actually worth," he said.

Daniel Ivan owns a cabinet, tile and stone business. He bought carts for just $15 each. "You can't complain," he said. "I mean, you can't buy the wheels for these carts for that, for 15 bucks." Which just shows when a business fails and has to auction its items, there's always another business ready to buy.

The amount of money raised is still being calculated, but it will go toward paying off creditors Number One International had.