By LEIGH MUNSIL / The Dallas Morning News
lmunsil@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – A mansion with a checkered past is hitting the online auction block next month, drawing as much interest for its proximity to Cowboys Stadium as its role in a North Texas drug case.
You'll need a pre-bid of $50,000 just to take part in an online auction for a drug dealer's mansion in Arlington. The auction will begin Oct. 5, with a starting bid of $1.5 million.
View larger More photos Photo store Appraised at $3.7 million with a yearly tax bill of $50,997, the four-story home is in a gated community in southwest Arlington.
The property was seized after the 2005 arrest of its owner, Rakesh Jyoti Saran, in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Operation CYBERx, which targeted more than 22 illegal Internet pharmacies.
Realtors say it's beautiful, and affordable, considering its size and location.
"The Super Bowl is coming in February, and it's just a hop, skip and a jump from that location," said Jenny Lynch, spokeswoman for Bid4Assets.com, the company organizing the property's online auction.
According to reports, the drug dealers arrested in the operation took orders for prescription drugs online and then shipped them to people across the country, raking in an average profit of more than $50,000 a day.
Saran pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and other federal offenses. In December 2009, Saran was sentenced to serve 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $68 million in restitution for his involvement in the scheme.
As part of his plea agreement, Saran forfeited the custom home, which was under construction in Arlington. It was sold by the U.S. Marshals Service in May 2008 to Austin investor HS Panorama, LP for $1.2 million.
After acquiring the house in 2008, the buyer spent about nine months fixing up the property.
"Because it sat vacant for two years, it was pretty beat up," said Jamie Adams, principal and founder of Adams & Company Real Estate.
The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom and four half-bathroom home at 2324 Panorama Court sits on 2.6 acres overlooking the Rush Creek greenbelt. It has now been restored to a livable condition.
The home was designed by Arlington architect Don Wheaton. Some of the amenities leave traces of its almost-owner, such as a nursery adjacent to the master bedroom built because Saran's wife was expecting a baby. A three-panel landscape mural in the master bedroom entryway was painted by an artist who Saran flew in from Italy to do the job. The house also features an indoor pool, a home theater and heated marble tile throughout.
The residence has been listed for about 440 days. Though Adams said he received some acceptable offers, it turned out they weren't from qualified buyers.
"Unfortunately in today's market with these kinds of homes, you have a lot of people that come out of the woodwork that are more dreamers than doers," Adams said.
The online auction will begin on Oct. 5. A pre-bid of $50,000 is required, with the starting bid set at $1.5 million. But Adams said he hopes it will sell for somewhere in the high $3 millions.
The condition of the real estate market makes that price tag a bargain, because the 22,000-square-foot mansion would cost between $5 million and $6 million to build, he said.
"It's probably, if you look at it, one of the top 10 largest homes in Tarrant County," Adams said. "You're not going to find a better deal."
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