(a) At any judicial sale of any property, real or personal, of any employer against whom a lien or judgment has been entered under the provisions of this act, the department is hereby authorized and empowered to bid in such property if necessary for the protection of its interest. Title shall be taken in the name of the Commonwealth to the use of the Unemployment Compensation Fund.

(b) The costs of acquiring property at judicial sale as herein provided and for the subsequent maintenance, preservation and disposal thereof are hereby declared to be administrative expenses to be paid out of the Administration Fund.

(c) Any property purchased under the provisions of this section shall be held until such time as the department shall believe it advisable to dispose of the same except as hereinafter provided. Thereupon, the department, at either public or private sale, may dispose of the property upon such terms and conditions as it may deem advisable, and the Department of Justice may approve. It shall be lawful to sell the property for cash or for part cash and a mortgage to run from the purchaser to the Commonwealth. When the terms and conditions of such sale shall have been agreed upon and approved, the Department of Justice is hereby authorized and directed to execute and deliver a deed or other appropriate document conveying or transferring the property. Any such conveyance or transfer shall be free and clear of all liens and encumbrances in favor of the department except the lien of a purchase-money mortgage, if any, contemporaneously executed and delivered to the Commonwealth.

(d) The proceeds derived from the sale of any property under this provision of the act shall be distributed in the following order:

(e) It shall be unlawful for any State officer or employe or any member of the family of such officer or employe to purchase, directly or indirectly, any property acquired by the department at a judicial sale under the provisions of this section.