Mastro Sports Auctions

[Eric]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/20...int=1&page=all

Bill Mastro folds sports memorabilia's largest auction house amid FBI probe

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, March 12th 2009, 10:15 AM

Mastro auctions chairman Bill Mastro boasted in a Jan. 21 article in the Chicago Daily Herald that his auction house would not be damaged by the recession because it caters to high-end clients.

"When we do our big auctions we're typically dealing with well-heeled guys, and this is what gives them pleasure," Mastro said. "If anything, I think guys are getting more choosy and discriminating about what they buy and how they buy it. But at the end of the day a Mercedes is a Mercedes, and if you want and have the means, you'll pay for it."

Less than two months later, Mastro Auctions is apparently out of business.

Sports memorabilia's largest auction house is at the center of an FBI investigation into shill bidding, card doctoring and other allegations of fraud that have damaged the company's Mercedes image. While Bill Mastro said in the January interview that the company would continue to generate $50 million in annual sales, industry sources say it had crippling credit-line and cash-flow problems. Consignors have complained that they were not paid for items sold at Mastro's December auction.

Three Mastro executives, including president Doug Allen, have purchased Mastro Auction's assets and will launch a new company called Legendary Auctions. The new business has taken possession of computer software and client lists, sources told the Daily News. Allen did not return phone calls for comment, but in a press release, the new company said all outstanding Mastro Auctions business will be "seamlessly facilitated, processed and completed through Legendary Auctions." Industry sources told the Daily News they expect Mastro's consignors will all eventually be paid.

Allen had told potential investors that he is not a target of the FBI probe, according to sources, but the new company appears to be taking steps to avoid shill-bidding allegations and other problems that damaged Mastro's credibility with collectors.

"The principals employed by Legendary Auctions will put their own collecting interests aside and concentrate solely on providing opportunities for our customers," Allen said in the press release. "There will be no mixing of business and pleasure at Legendary Auctions in terms of our own collecting pursuits. This will really be all about our customers."

The Daily News reported last year that sports-memorabilia officials have testified before a grand jury in Chicago that is investigating Mastro Auctions and fraud in the collectibles business.

The grand jury deliberations are part of an investigation into memorabilia fraud initiated last year by the Chicago division of the FBI, whose "Operation Foul Ball" smashed a multistate autograph forgery ring in the 1990s. Other sports-memorabilia businesses and individuals may also be under investigation.

Bill Mastro will not be associated with Legendary Auctions. "Circumstances make it clear to me that the business needs to move in a different direction at this time, and Legendary Auctions is a positive step that allows everyone to be taken care of, especially our customers who have been so loyal," Mastro said in the press release. "I am looking forward to taking some time off for now, and wish Legendary Auctions only the best as they move forward."

[earlywynnfan]

Maybe I'm reading into this wrong, but it seems to me that Allen is tossing the Mastro name to the wolves (FBI) and putting on a new set of clothes. I have never personally dealt with Allen, and my few Mastro experiences have been fine, but I always thought that Bill Mastro was the classy one of the group; now this deal almost makes it look like they dumped the problem, and from now on the remaining members will uphold the fine standards they always wanted.

Does anyone else get this vibe from this manuever? We all seem to be seeing a con game in progress, but does anyone else feel bad for Bill in this?

(Also, I've never heard a bad thing about Ron Oser, either; I didn't even know he was a bigwig at Mastro.)

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[Marichal27]

Henderson's cd has so many holes in it, if it were cheese, it would be Swiss.
He claimed some Indians future jersey as one of those prototypes from the '90's I believe...it's actually a softball uniform.

[kingjammy24]

hi ken

i also get the impression that bill's the scapegoat.

mastro was owned by SRE which is headed by doug's old buddy flip. maybe SRE wasn't overly fond of funding an auction house that was the focus of an FBI investigation especially in the current climate? why would SRE cut off funding if mastro was profitable, especially if SRE/flip inserted their own man, doug, at the top of the operation?
secondly, what other investor or lender's going to fund a company under FBI investigation? but if they make bill out to be the scapegoat and say that he's no longer with the company then that allows doug to procure funding to start another auction house. why would legendary be able to procure funding but mastro couldn't? after all, it's the same management team! what's the only difference? bill mastro's not there. not hard to put 2 and 2 together.

i've never met or spoken to bill mastro but from what i've read i see no reason to feel sorry for him especially after reading "The Card". while some may say that the book was a hack job on bill, i didn't see bill suing for libel. the book practically implies that bill committed a massive fraud and bill doesn't say a word. yeah that screams innocence.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...nt_cut_it.html

is it just a coincidence that the guy accused of altering the T206 wagner then has his auction house under FBI investigation for card altering? as they say, the fish rots from the head down.

secondly, bill chose to sell to SRE in 2004. he chose to take on doug allen. maybe he felt a kinship with doug, a guy who's been shown to have no qualms about altering items without disclosing the alterations. if these choices came back to bite bill in the ass, then so be it. stupidity has always had consequences. the sale made him a wealthy man and even after the sale, he proclaimed he was still heavily involved in every aspect. so you've got bill and doug at the top and the two of them do such an amazing management job that the company comes under FBI investigation for card-altering and shill bidding and then folds. wow! do you know how badly you've got to screw up to result in an FBI investigation? those guys don't go around conducting random investigations of clean businesses. when you think of the gross ineptitude that it takes to come to these results, it's pretty staggering. yet there was ol' dougie doing his usual garbage song and dance a month earlier singing the "everything's alright! t'is just a bank glitch!" ditty. of course the fact that it was coming out of doug's mouth meant it was garbage and wow, shocker, 1 month later mastro goes down. i wouldn't be surprised if in several years, "legendary auctions" is under FBI investigation.

as for oser being a bigwig at mastro, mastro purchased ron's company years and years ago and when you're the head of a company being purchased, it's not hard to secure yourself a plum position with your new overlord.

"Circumstances make it clear to me that the business needs to move in a different direction at this time.."

LOL. "circumstances". like a #*&!@ FBI investigation? those kinds of circumstances? they make it clear that the business needs to move in a non-fraudulent direction perhaps? in a "no more card-altering or shill-bidding" type of direction? what a genius. well good luck moving in that direction with doug allen at the helm. after all, doug was at the top at mastro and they went straight down the toilet. i don't know what makes bill or doug think "legendary" will be any different. "this time it will really be about our customers". what a racket. if i were part of the team at legendary, i wouldn't exactly be advertising that doug allen is leading it. how's that a plus? "and heading our new auction house is failed executive doug allen who previously headed mastro which is now under FBI investigation". what an advertisement. who's in charge of their customer service, kieta?

i don't feel sorry for bill or doug. they made a ton of money and together they governed a company that's now under FBI investigation. the only people i feel sorry for are the lower-level mastro employees who are genuinely paying the consequences for bill and doug's staggering ineptitude. i'm surprised theotikos and oser are actually following allen to another venture. out of one trainwreck and into another. then again, with the economy going the way it is, i can't imagine "auction directors" are in high-demand so maybe they have little choice.

rudy.

[Capital-Sports]

Rudy,

I just have to say that I read all of your posts, past and present, and even form the old GUF archive, and you are a very informative individual. I value everything you say, and respect that you only speak the truth. You have alot of knowledge and I always look forward to reading your posts.

Ok, now im off your.......well.....game used baseballs LOL

Mark

[kingjammy24]

Henderson's cd has so many holes in it, if it were cheese, it would be Swiss.
He claimed some Indians future jersey as one of those prototypes from the '90's I believe...it's actually a softball uniform.

are you referring to ver 3 of bill's guide for ver 4? there were many corrections in ver 4.

anyway, for those that don't know, bill's guide is a reference guide that encompasses every single style of jersey, including BP shirts, for every single MLB team from 1970-2007. it is 1266 pages long. how are there not going to be some errors? everyone knows about the indians error referenced above. can you name 10 other errors? shouldn't be too hard given that bill documents 37 yrs worth of jerseys right?

to my knowledge, it's the only guide that even attempts to cover such a range and i still think it makes excellent reading for anyone interested in collecting MLB gamers. there's more right than wrong in it and i think it still makes for an excellent reference. hey marichal, quick off the top of your head, what year did the expos first begin using red numbers on the front of their road shirts? don't look in henderson's guide. good luck.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

my 2 cents: if "legendary" is revealed to be funded by silk road equity, then i think it's obvious what happened.

the plot thickens: http://www.silkroadequity.com/Equity/Portfolio.html
silk road has removed mastro from their stable and added "legendary auctions".

"Mastro said the new owners have been reluctant to expand or renew their bank credit line," said the lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity." "..industry sources say it had crippling credit-line and cash-flow problems."

the new owners (SRE) were reluctant to expand or renew mastro's credit but have no problem doing it for legendary? what's the difference? they're interested in funding doug but not doug and bill. doug made sure to specifically say he was "not the target of the FBI investigation". i guess we know who is then.

well played mr.allen!

rudy.

[trsent]

the plot thickens: http://www.silkroadequity.com/Equity/Portfolio.html
silk road has removed mastro from their stable and added "legendary auctions".

"Mastro said the new owners have been reluctant to expand or renew their bank credit line," said the lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity." "..industry sources say it had crippling credit-line and cash-flow problems."

the new owners (SRE) were reluctant to expand or renew mastro's credit but have no problem doing it for legendary? what's the difference? they're interested in funding doug but not doug and bill. doug made sure to specifically say he was "not the target of the FBI investigation". i guess we know who is then.

well played mr.allen!

rudy.

Was Bill Mastro active in the day to day operations of Mastro Auctions since he sold the company and stayed on as an adviser?

I was under the impression that the new owners of Mastro Auctions were broke so Doug Allen coughed up the money to start this new company. What brings speculation that this has to do with an FBI investigation except for people hoping such is true?

I have no inside information, but I was told the owner of Mastro Auctions was broke due to the stock market situations so Doug Allen raised money so reform the auction house under a new name.

In my years in this industry, Bill Mastro has always been an open and honest person who was always available to answer questions that were ever poised to him (not a true statement when discussing Doug Allen) and I believe if you have questions you should find Bill Mastro (on vacation?) and ask him your questions about what is going on.

These posts are beginning to run with so much speculation and finger pointing that maybe, like the Congress investigation into which baseball players used drugs, this is looking like a very similar witch hunt with no end and no apparent contact with those involved to get their sides of the story since everyone being hunted in this thread doesn't appear to post on this forum.

Maybe, just maybe, a new company, will join and post on this forum?

[David]

I agree that there is limited information and much speculation. As far as the investigation goes, no on knows what is going on who is being looked at. For example, even if shilling is the crime, shilling can be the product of the consignors (and well placed friends) rather the auctioneer. I've seen a variety of speculation, but I've not heard anyone in the government say a Mastro employee, much less which Mastro employee, is being looked at by the FBI. Maybe a Mastro employee(s) is in trouble, but I can only speculate about that.

[kingjammy24]

"Was Bill Mastro active in the day to day operations of Mastro Auctions since he sold the company and stayed on as an adviser?"

great question. let's ask bill:

“It was strictly a financial business decision,” Mastro explains. “I’m still the CEO and I’m still running the company just like I always have. I still do it all. I proof every page of every catalogue. I know people think I’m crazy but it is that attention to every detail that has made MastroNet what it is – my sticking my nose into everyone’s business. I come to work motivated everyday because I care. I’m not leaving! I’m not going anywhere!”

"I was under the impression that the new owners of Mastro Auctions were broke so Doug Allen coughed up the money to start this new company."

so silk road lists "legendary" as one of their companies and that gives you the impression that they're broke and that doug allen raised the money? got it. if SRE was broke why would they invest in "legendary"?

"These posts are beginning to run with so much speculation and finger pointing.."

i simply posted that SRE is now listing "legendary" as one of their companies. the only real speculation i see is you saying SRE is broke.

rudy.