Attention, holiday shoppers: Ill-gotten gains including a 2009 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Edition and a Chanel sapphire-and-diamond watch will hit a Raleigh auction block the week before Thanksgiving.
The federal government says the items will be sold to pay back people who invested tens of millions of dollars with former Raleigh businessman and accused Ponzi artist William Wise, who disappeared in March after federal civil charges were brought against him.
The jewelry, cars, wine, designer handbags and other luxury items once owned by Wise will bring higher prices before the holidays, says a Hillsborough auctioneer setting up the Nov. 18 sale.
"Time is of the essence," said auction company owner Leland Little, who's working for the court-appointed receiver charged with getting as much value as possible from Wise's remaining property.
In March, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission accused Wise and others of defrauding hundreds of clients through his Millennium Bank, which had offices in Raleigh, California and the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
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