TUPELO – Businessman V.M. Cleveland hopes to find lessors for the former Stanford office building he purchased today.

Cleveland was the only bidder at the 10 a.m. auction at Coldwell Banker's office just a block east on Main Street from the available property, taken over by a federal court after the Stanford Financial Group empire collapsed in early 2009.

Cleveland, who also owns Tupelo Furniture Market and other properties, won the public auction with a $750,000 bid.

Local agent Tommy Morgan helped secure Cleveland as the property "stalking horse," which means other bidders would have to beat Cleveland's offer.

Although the public notice said the basement bid was $837,000, auction officials said that price included various fees and costs associated with the property's sale.

Right after the auction, Cleveland said he wants to finish out the property upstairs in hopes of leasing it as office space.

The downstairs space is dressed out in classic Stanford dark green and brass as a professional office with reception area, roomy executive space and a kitchen. Stanford's employees also occupied a similarly arranged upstairs at 110 E. Main.

Stanford and some company executives were indicted in June 2009 on federal charges they staged a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme on certificate of deposit investors. Their criminal trials are pending in Houston, Texas.

The company collapsed under the weight of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, which resulted in a federal judge's putting a receiver over its assets.

The Tupelo sale will go toward a pool of money to help compensate investor losses.

Other Stanford-related properties in Baldwyn are expected to be auctioned soon, official say.

Read Friday's Daily Journal for more.