WILKES-BARRE – Two properties tied to Robert J. Powell, a key player in the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal, have been removed from today’s tax-claim sale.
Delinquent taxes were paid on a 37-acre property in Wright Township owned by W-Cat Inc. and on The Powell Law Group property in Butler Township, said Sean Shamany, a manager of the company hired to run the county tax claim office.
First National Community Bank paid $65,000 in taxes on The Powell Law Group property and $38,775.01 in taxes on the W-Cat property, said Shamany, a manager with Northeast Revenue Service. The bank doesn’t own the properties but may own mortgages on the properties, Shamany said.
About 400 properties are listed for today’s “free-and-clear” sale, which involves properties that did not sell at an upset sale. Bidding at an upset sale starts with the amount owed in taxes, fees and liens, and a buyer is responsible for all debt tied to a property.
Bidding at a “free-and-clear” sale starts with only legal and administrative costs. But a buyer will still have to pay a real estate transfer tax, which is 2 percent of a property’s assessed value, Shamany said. A total of 235 bidders have registered for today’s sale, Shamany said.
Federal authorities charged former county judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan with taking kickbacks from Powell, who later pleaded guilty to paying the judges $770,000 for placing juveniles in two for-profit detention centers that Powell co-owned.
Powell testified in February at the trial of Ciavarella, who was found guilty of racketeering and other charges and will be sentenced Thursday. Powell and Conahan, who also has pleaded guilty, have not been sentenced.
W-Cat was planning a townhouse development on the 37-acre property in Wright Township. The property has an assessed value of $1.2 million, records show.
Former county Prothonotary Jill Moran was listed as president of W-Cat, and Powell, Moran’s law partner, was half-owner of W-Cat until sometime in 2004. Moran in 2009 agreed to resign as prothonotary and cooperate with federal investigators.
Big Kahuna Realty Inc., a company co-owned by Powell, owns The Powell Law Group property, which has an assessed value of almost $1.2 million.
mbuffer@citizensvoice.com