A house on St. Thomas will go up for public auction on July 27, and when the bidding ends two days later, it will close the Virgin Islands’ involvement in a two-year old case that rocked Washington D.C.
Harriette Walters was sentenced June 30 to 17 ½ years in prison for a scheme that stole $48.1 million from the city’s Office of Tax and Revenue. Walters and 10 others, including some of Walters’s friends and relatives, have pleaded guilty, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Investigators have so far recovered a little more than $10 million of the stolen money.
When Walters was arrested on Nov. 7, 2007, FBI agents from Puerto Rico flew to St. Thomas where at least two of Walters relatives ownd property and searched two houses. One of those, at Sorgenfri 5-1, was owned by Walters brother, Richard Walters, 49, of Bowie, Md., who in November was sentenced to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in the scheme, which involved issuing property tax rebate checks to non-existent companies.
That is the house being put on the auction block.
The auction will take place on line on the website bid4assets.com. The house can be viewed at www.bid4assets.com/SSV9.
According to the site, the building is actually two dwelling units on .64 acres of property. The principal dwelling is 2,920 square feet of gross living area, the smaller is 440 square feet. The site says, "It is unclear as to how many bedrooms the property has because there are a number of rooms within rooms that could be considered large closets. The upper level of the main unit is accessed by a spiral staircase."
The property has a patio-deck, fence and a porch. There is a large driveway which can fit three or more vehicles and a carport that can hold two. There are two refrigerators, two range-ovens, one dishwasher, one microwave, one washer-dryer and a trash compactor inside of the home.
The website notes that the buildings are unfinished, and suggests buyers should confer with a structural engineer to check integrity, adding, "There is evidence of water damage and mold due to overgrown brush and possible leakage."
Under the terms of the auction listed on the website, the minimum bid is $212,500 and succeeding bids must be an increase of at least $14,875. To participate, interested bidders must put down a deposit of $42,500 before the auction begins.
There will be an open house to view the property Tuesday. Those interested can make an appointment by sending an e-mail to inspections@bid4assets.com.
