FBI Illegally Hid Surveillance Devices Around Courthouse Fishing For Foreclosure Sale Fraud

``Federal agents planted hidden microphones and conducted secret video surveillance at Alameda County's Rene C. Davidson Courthouse for ten months, despite having no court warrant. The surveillance operation was part of an investigation into alleged bid rigging at foreclosed property auctions where thousands of houses and apartment buildings were sold by banks. But defense attorneys for some of the individuals accused say the FBI's surveillance tactics violated their clients' constitutional rights, and everyone else whose conversations might have been captured on tape.''