Available: Exotic autos — Seized vehicles to be sold at auctions

NORTH SALT LAKE — When the bay door opened on the first storage unit in February, auctioneer Rob Olson and his son couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"We're standing there with a deputy U.S. marshal … and my son and I were like, 'Look at that!' " said Olson, president of Erkelens & Olson Auctioneers. "We were saying, 'This can't get any better,' and then we opened the next one and the next one."

What Olson and his son were looking at was part of a $6 million car, motorcycle and boat collection seized by the FBI from alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind Jeffrey Lane Mowen that would ultimately total 210 vehicles.

The storage units contained a motor menagerie that included a 1925 Ford Model T Speedster, a 1956 Austin Healey convertible, a 1970 Pontiac GTO, a 1971 De Tomaso Pantera GTS coupe, a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 sports coupe, a 1989 Bentley Turbo R sedan and even a 1969 Dodge Charger with the "General Lee" paint scheme. There were also custom motorcycles, boats and vehicle-transport trailers.

Although Mowen has not been convicted of a crime, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson has granted a prosecution request to auction off the seized vehicles. The auctions are scheduled for Jan. 7 and Jan. 21 in North Salt Lake.

"I have sold all across the country, and I have not seen a collection offered at one time that's this large with this kind of product," said Olson, who has 35 years of experience in the auction industry.

Interest has been widespread, Olson said, with prospective bidders contacting him from around the U.S. and Canada.

The FBI began seizing Mowen's vehicles in January, according to court records. The Lindon man was later indicted on charges of solicitation to commit a crime of violence, witness tampering, retaliating against a witness and wire fraud.

Authorities said Mowen, 47, operated an illegal financial scheme from 2006 to 2008 that cost his investors $18 million. Then, after Mowen was arrested on the wire-fraud charge, he tried to convince his cellmate, who was due to be released in November, to kill two of his major investors and two others, court records state.

Prosecutors said Mowen used his collection of cars, motorcycles and boats as evidence to prospective investors of his apparent wealth. After the vehicles were seized, authorities conducted administrative forfeiture proceedings. The U.S. Marshals Service took custody of the collection, storing it in a rented warehouse at a cost of $21,000 per month.