COLUMBUS — A Columbus woman has been charged in connection with her alleged role in a bid-rigging scheme that artificially inflated prices in online auctions, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Tuesday.
“Going once, going twice – going to court!” Yost said. “When sellers plant fake bidders to drive up prices, that’s not smart business. It’s criminal behavior.”
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Lindsay Klein, also known as Lindsay Leslie, on one count each of price fixing, bid rigging and telecommunications fraud and two counts of identity fraud.
The indictment alleges that, between July 2022 and March 2023, Klein – acting through her business Priceless Discoveries – used fake identities to place bids on 760 auction items, falsely creating the impression that the items were in greater demand than they were.
The scheme – known as “shill bidding” – inflated auction closing prices by about $9,000 during that period, the indictment says.
Klein formed the company Diva Shop Limited in November 2020 and, 17 months later, began operating as Priceless Discoveries.
The business acquired inventory and sold merchandise through the online auction platform Capital City Online Auctions, which alerted the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), regulator of auctions, to unusual bidding activity.
A joint investigation by ODA and the Attorney General’s Office ensued.
The indictment maintains that Klein, 36, used a bidder profile created with the stolen personal information of a 55-year-old Columbus man to submit bids on hundreds of items.
The man was unaware that a bidder profile had been created in his name and said he had never participated in the auctions. His bidding profile was usually listed as the second-highest bidder.
An additional bidder profile associated with a 69-year-old Reynoldsburg woman was accessed and used without her permission, knowledge or authorization.
A third bidder profile – in the name of Rhonda Kelley, Klein’s mother – was allegedly used to place hundreds of bids, at times creating the appearance of competition among bidder accounts controlled from the same location.
The conduct alleged in the indictment constitutes a criminal violation of Ohio’s Valentine Act, the state’s antitrust law that prohibits price-fixing and other conspiracies that restrain trade or harm consumers. The case is being prosecuted by the Antitrust Section of Yost’s office.
Indictments are criminal allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in a court of law. Klein’s arraignment will be held on March 6.