Palmer house sells for thousands
An Idaho Falls mansion previously owned by a man who operated a Ponzi scheme sold at auction in November.
The court-appointed receiver for Trigon Group, Wayne Klein, filed notice Nov. 27 that the home sold for $762,000, which is just a fraction of its most recent listed sale price of $1.9 million.
It was first listed for sale in August 2009 for $4 million. According to Klein, Daren Palmer poured $6.9 million into the home’s construction.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge approved an accelerated auction deadline because the unnamed buyer wanted to close on the property by Dec. 31. A 10-day public comment period expired this week.
The auction was ordered after the house failed to sell at its assessed value. It was intended to help compensate investors in an illegal $78 million Ponzi scheme operated by Palmer.
Klein said the sale would bring in substantial additional cash to the Receivership Estate and greatly reduce the expense of maintaining the home.
The 16,000 square foot home, on Sheffield Circle in Idaho Falls, features six bedrooms and six bathrooms, a sauna, heated staircase, an indoor water fountain, gym, theater room, pool house, two three-car garages, and a half basketball court connected to the rest of the house by way of an underground tunnel. Much of the home is unfinished.
