That is disgusting. Unless and until they are convicted, the feds are responsible for storing their property safely. We cannot take personal property and then auction it off because it’s costing us money to store the property that we took.
In the meantime, the Carpoffs and the Department of Justice agreed to hold an interlocutory sale and put the proceeds into a seized asset account, rather than continue to incur expenses for the storage and maintenance of the vehicles.The Carpoff's may not feel as rich as they once did and may be grateful to get this episode behind them as quickly and painlessly as possible. This is a bankruptcy sale, not a criminal proceeding.
The cars’s owners agreed to let the feds auction the vehicles now instead of storing them securely until the legal process takes its course. If the owners are found not guilty, they will get the proceeds of the sales. This is not a unique circumstance in the world of criminal asset forfeiture. The odds are that a quick sale of these assets will result in higher net proceeds than storing and maintaining them for a couple of years.
Feds don’t give a shit.