February 8, 2008 Property of New Hampshire tax evaders goes to auction block Play video

(NECN) - Ed and Elaine Brown stopped paying taxes in 1996. They racked up more than $2 million in debt to the IRS.

When the Browns, were convicted last year of tax evasion, they holed up inside their Plainfield, NH compound. They taunted the government, neighbors and the media in a months-long standoff. Feds raided the house in October and seized a virtual trove of treasures.

They collected gold and silver coins, a gold bar, a diamond stick pin and some other unusual items. An auction brought in more than $80,000 to help pay down the IRS debt. A big chunk, $32,000, went for the gold bar.

Peter Rhee came from Queens to pick up the gold bar and a piece of artwork for his kids. Another dad with a bidding car, David Plummer of Hudson, scored a hyperbaric chamber from the Brown’s home. It will help his sone who suffered a severe brain injury in 2001.

Most bidders were seeking collectors items or souvenirs and weren’t thinking all that much about how the look made it to the auction block.

Two days of auctioning however, has only brought in a fraction of what the Browns owe.