An auction of a huge collection of motorcycles and classic, antique, muscle and luxury autos that belonged to an accused swindler has been rescheduled for April after a federal magistrate signed off on their sale.

The collection of Jeffrey Mowen of Lindon will go on the auction block April 1 in North Salt Lake, auctioneer Rob Olson said Wednesday.

The auction had previously been set for two days in January, but a federal judge nixed those dates after Mowen objected, saying the government had not followed proper procedures.

But on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Paul Warner signed an order allowing the auction to go forward. Mowen had failed to raise proper objections to the sale of individual vehicles, Warner said in the order.

"Instead of submitting such specific objections, defendant's written submission consists of rambling, conclusory and overly broad objections," the magistrate said. "To the extent defendant has identified any specific vehicles, he provides only speculative arguments about vehicle values and generalized criticisms of the government's appraisals."

Mowen, 47, is being held in jail pending a trial or resolution of his case. According to court documents, Mowen used about $6 million in investor money to purchase 200 high-end antique, classic and muscle vehicles, including cars, trucks, trailers, motorcycles and three-wheelers.

Federal prosecutors say Mowen used the vehicles as symbols of his investing success before his alleged Ponzi scheme of using new investors' money to pay original investors as part of a currency and real estate deal collapsed, leaving them out at least $10 million.

The auctioneers are charging admission this time for the preview and auction. During the last preview, children and adults were climbing in and on the vehicles, and Olson received some complaints from potential bidders, said the president of Erkelens & Olson Auctioneers, which is conducting the sale for the U.S. Marshals Service.

"We had a lot of kids in there playing with gears and nobs, a little unsupervised," said Olson. "We think [charging admission is] going to cut down on this."

Also on display during the preview will about 50 vehicles from a Vernal collector that will be sold April 2. Those vehicles are not connected to the Mowen sale.

Information on both auctions is available at www.salesandauction.com.

The Mowen vehicles were seized by the U.S. Marshals Service as part of the investigation into Mowen's financial activities. Because the Marshals Service was paying about $20,000 a month in storage fees, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson granted it permission to auction the vehicles, even though Mowen has not been convicted.

Mowen has pleaded not guilty but was jailed after he fled to Panama, where he was arrested in April and returned to the United States. He also has been charged with attempting to convince a fellow inmate to kill witnesses who might testify against him.

Olson said he expected to receive bids from people out of state, including an Australian who had flown to the U.S. last time only to be told the auction had been canceled.

Sale proceeds would go to people who lost money with Mowen.

tharvey@sltrib.com