COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus woman has been indicted on charges stemming from an alleged bid-rigging scheme that authorities say artificially inflated prices in online auctions.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that a Franklin County grand jury returned an indictment against Lindsay Klein, also known as Lindsay Leslie. She faces one count each of price fixing, bid rigging and telecommunications fraud, along with two counts of identity fraud.
According to the indictment, between July 2022 and March 2023, Klein — operating through her business, Priceless Discoveries — used fake identities to place bids on 760 auction items. Prosecutors allege the practice, commonly known as “shill bidding,” created the false impression of higher demand and drove up final sale prices by about $9,000 during that period.
Klein formed Diva Shop Limited in November 2020 and later began operating as Priceless Discoveries. The business purchased inventory and sold merchandise through Capital City Online Auctions. The online platform reported unusual bidding activity to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which regulates auctions in the state. A joint investigation by the department and the Attorney General’s Office followed.
Investigators allege Klein used a bidder profile created with the stolen personal information of a 55-year-old Columbus man to place bids on hundreds of items. The man told authorities he was unaware a profile had been created in his name and said he had never participated in the auctions. Court documents state that the profile was often listed as the second-highest bidder.
Prosecutors also allege that a bidder profile belonging to a 69-year-old Reynoldsburg woman was accessed and used without her permission.
In addition, authorities claim a third bidder profile in the name of Rhonda Kelley, identified in court records as Klein’s mother, was used to place hundreds of bids, at times creating the appearance of competition among accounts allegedly controlled from the same location.
The charges include alleged violations of Ohio’s Valentine Act, the state’s antitrust law that prohibits price fixing and other conspiracies that restrain trade or harm consumers. The case is being prosecuted by the Antitrust Section of the Attorney General’s Office.
Klein, 36, is scheduled to be arraigned on March 6.
An indictment is an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.