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United States v. Nusbaum & Stollof / United States v. Berman (D. Md. — Maryland Tax-Lien Bid-Rigging, 2008–2010)

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United States v. Nusbaum & Stollof / United States v. Berman (D. Md., 2008–2010)

Charge: Conspiracy in restraint of trade — bid rigging — in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §1 · Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Baltimore) · Investigating agencies: DOJ Antitrust Division, National Criminal Enforcement Section, and the FBI · DOJ Press Release No. 09-597 (June 16, 2009)

A DOJ Antitrust Division prosecution of investors who rigged bids at Maryland tax-lien auctions held by the City of Baltimore and several Maryland counties. Unlike the New Jersey “bid-down-the-interest-rate” scheme, the Maryland auctions were rigged on the price (premium) bid: conspirators agreed which of them would bid on specific liens or groups of liens and agreed on the prices to be bid, so that liens were purchased at collusive, non-competitive prices.

Scope

Federal criminal antitrust enforcement of Maryland tax-lien auctions. This page consolidates a clearly-related set of prosecutions from a single DOJ Antitrust Division investigation in the District of Maryland: the Steven L. Berman plea (2008) and the Harvey M. Nusbaum / Jack W. Stollof indictment and Nusbaum plea (2009–2010). Only defendants confirmed from retrieved DOJ sources are listed.

Facts (the scheme)

When a Maryland property owner fails to pay property taxes, the county or city may attach a lien; after a waiting period the lien is sold at a public auction (typically annual). The auction winner may collect the lien amount from the delinquent taxpayer with statutory interest and may eventually foreclose if the lien remains unpaid.

The conspirators carried out the bid rigging by, among other things: attending meetings and discussions about bids for tax liens being auctioned; agreeing not to compete by allocating which tax liens, properties, or groups of properties each group would bid or refrain from bidding on; agreeing on prices to be bid; exchanging intended bid prices so as not to outbid one another; submitting bids in accordance with the agreements; and purchasing tax liens at collusive, non-competitive prices (DOJ Press Release 09-597). The DOJ charging documents place the conspiracy from in or around Spring 2002 (the broader Nusbaum/Stollof conspiracy) / Spring 2004 (Berman) through at least August 2007, affecting auctions in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties.

Holding / outcome (confirmed defendants)

  • Steven L. Berman — an agent for various Cockeysville, Md. limited-liability companies — agreed to plead guilty under a plea agreement announced June 3, 2008, to a one-count felony bid-rigging charge in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, and agreed to pay a $750,000 criminal fine, to serve any period of incarceration the court ordered, and to cooperate with the ongoing investigation (DOJ, June 3, 2008).
  • Harvey M. Nusbaum and Jack W. Stollof (Baltimore-area businessmen) — each indicted June 16, 2009 on one count of bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore (DOJ Press Release 09-597). The DOJ Antitrust Division case page (United States v. Harvey M. Nusbaum and Jack W. Stollof) records a Plea Agreement for Harvey M. Nusbaum dated February 23, 2010.

Each Sherman Act violation carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals (the fine may rise to twice the gain or twice the loss). The June 2009 DOJ release confirms that Berman pleaded guilty in June 2008 to the same conspiracy.

Final sentencing figures for Nusbaum and Stollof (reported by contemporaneous press as prison/house-arrest terms and ~$800,000 fines each) are needs_verification against a primary DOJ release or court judgment and are not stated here as confirmed.

Reasoning

Bid rigging — here, allocation of liens plus agreement on the prices to be bid — is a per se violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The horizontal agreement among competing bidders is unlawful on its face; the government need not prove the precise overcharge. The Maryland format is a price/premium-bid auction, so the collusion suppressed the prices paid to the municipality and let conspirators acquire liens cheaply, then profit on redemption interest and foreclosures. See sherman-antitrust-bid-rigging.

Practical impact

  • Confirms that price-bid (premium) tax-lien auctions are antitrust-covered, just like the interest-rate-bid format. Agreeing who bids on which liens, or agreeing on bid prices, is criminal regardless of auction mechanics.
  • The Maryland matter shows enforcement reaches agents and the LLC vehicles used to bid, not only principals — Berman was charged as an agent for multiple Cockeysville LLCs.
  • Operators bidding across multiple Maryland counties must avoid any cross-bidder coordination; the same conduct spanning Baltimore City and five counties was charged as a single conspiracy. See auction-bid-rigging-antitrust-compliance.

Good-law status

Still good law / still controlling enforcement posture. These are criminal charges, a guilty plea, and a plea agreement under Section 1 of the Sherman Act — not appellate doctrine subject to being overruled. No retrieved source indicates the Berman plea or the Nusbaum plea agreement was withdrawn. Sherman Act bid-rigging liability remains per se as of last_verified 2026-06-02.

Why it matters

The Maryland prosecutions are the premium-price counterpart to the New Jersey interest-rate cases: together they show the DOJ Antitrust Division will prosecute collusion at tax-lien auctions under either auction format. For investors, the lesson is identical — coordinating with competing bidders at a tax-lien auction is a federal felony.

Sources retrieved

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes federal criminal antitrust prosecutions for educational purposes and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Verify against the primary DOJ releases and court records before acting. Last verified 2026-06-02.

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