$1200 is much more than a dime. D381, E137 and SF Seals are more expensive than one would think.

Eric - You are right - I've listened to others stating that there were errors made. But I do not imagine 100% accuracy, it is rather their stated goal.

The case of fouled up calculations of shill bids is foreign to me. Where are these facts posted?

Error
 

I stand corrected. You said “I wasn’t involved.....except for getting ripped off”. My bad. I only saw the first part. I apologize.
I’m having Surgery on Monday to remove my foot from my mouth. When you had that surgery, did it hurt?


Your bad: telling me to stand down when you already sought him out in Chicago and addressed your concerns with him. Sometimes silence is golden.

Huge amount of misinformation in this thread about the Mastro case, the participants in the fraud, restitution, etc. The stated amount of loss was a fraction of what truly occurred due in part to very conservative calculations by the feds and the fact that Mastro destroyed so many years of records -- solely to hide their crimes.

Here's two things you all need to read:

Mastro shill bidding list: http://haulsofshame.com/blog/wp-cont...l-bid-list.pdf

Mastro, et al. indictment: https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao...pr0725_01a.pdf

I seemed to have missed your name on the victim impact list Jeff posted? I guess it was in those records that got destroyed? You remind me of a chihuahua LOL .... a NY one!!

Thanks Jeff for posting the shill bidding list. Definitely some names there I missed the first time I remember reading through it. Wow!

Leon, I was bidding with Mastro from day one. I finally wised up and yes I’m not down in Jeff’s list. Hell I remember working with Ron Oser.

Yeah a NY chihuahua has no chance against you dude...a Texas junkyard dog.

I would like to start with a full disclosure by stating that I joined this board today with the sole purpose of posting a response to comments in this thread. I have known Mark personally and professionally for more than 30 years and I had a couple purchases with Mastro but don’t believe I was defrauded in any way. I also happily wrote a letter to the judge prior to Mark’s sentencing. My letter in short said Mark is not a bad person. He is a good person that made a bad decision (or decisions). I will follow up on that in a moment.

The first question that I must ask the board is how many of you actually read the full court documents including the sentencing hearing? I’m not calling anyone out, just asking as I imagine some (not all) posting on here have not. Reading those documents can make you very happy you’re not an attorney, but without reading them you may not have all the facts.

There was a poster on this thread that raised the issue of hiring Mark and compared him to Bill Mastro. That is like comparing apples and oranges as evidenced by the U. S. Attorney Zachary Fardon who admitted Mark was largely following the orders of his bosses rather than orchestrating the scheme. He said Mark “opted to take a hands-on role to promote shill bidding, rather than demand change or at least leave the company and find a new position.”

Before anyone reacts, Mark was guilty of committng a crime. He confessed to that and there is no disputing that. However, there is a major difference between being the head of an organization that comes up with a scheme to defraud and a subordinate that is following orders/instructions. Certainly still illegal, but very very different IMO.

For anyone that believes Mark made a fortune through this crime, I have attached a link below to an article which states “from 2002 to 2008, Theotikos worked for Mastro, where he participated in auction operations at a salary of about $100,000 per year.” Now $100k is a solid salary, but how many of you would go through what he has for a $100k salary for 6 years? The reality here is Mark was put in a bad spot by Mr. Mastro and/or Mr. Allen. Mark should have made the decision to leave the company and find new employment. He chose to stay and through that decision committed a crime for which he has paid severely (and everyone on here is entitled to their own opinion on the severity).

For anyone that feels like he hasn't been punished enough let me pose a question. How many of you would be willing to up and quit your job if your current boss asked you to do something you thought was illegal or immoral? It’s easy to cast stones, but when you’re in that situation and the sole earner while raising a family it’s not an easy decision. Some may say, he should have gone to another auction house. That’s a fair statement. How many other auction houses are there in Chicago? I don’t believe there are any. So let me ask the question again in a different way. How many of you would quit your job and relocate your entire family to another state because you thought what your boss was asking you to do was illegal or immoral? If you’re boss is telling you to do you’re not the bad guy right? Besides if you speak up and criticize your boss your the troublemake that isn’t a team player. That will really help you with getting your next job. Right? It’s a very very tough thing to do and I would bet if people are being honest with themselves, most would stay and begrudgingly do what they were asked to do.

To recap, Mark did commit a crime and was convicted of that crime. He has served his sentence and paid a steep price for his actions. I’m not making any excuses for him. However, I stand by my letter to the judge. Mark is a good man that made a bad decision. Anyone that thinks Mark would ever make the same mistake again has simply never met Mark.

Thanks for allowing me to post here and I hope I didn’t offend too many people as that’s not my intent. Those that have been wronged by Mastronet are certainly well within their rights to be upset. Having good knowledge of what really transpired leads me to believe their anger may be misplaced which is why I wanted to make this post.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...yee-sentenced/

Well just a couple comments to the above post.
1) The " good guy who made bad decisions" and " just following orders " arguments hold NO water with me with regard to guilt.
2) If my boss asked me to do something illegal or immoral- hell
yes I would move on
3) I have made my share of bad decisions/ choices during my lifetime.

You make some valid points, and it's too bad he was in the position/career he was in, but that does not dissolve what he knowingly did.

He paid the price for his decision not to out them, which, I'm sure, if he had to do it all over again, he would, but sometimes we have to do the right things from the get go, especially if one is smart enough to reasonably know or recognize, that what they were doing would one day all come crashing down on them.



v=1EQQYeRAT3ohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EQQYeRAT3o

sorry, but no.
 

Sorry, this is well-intentioned BS. I can easily imagine that Mark found himself in an unpleasant dilemma when Mastro and Allen asked him to facilitate the shilling. But you have already acknowledged that he made the wrong decision. The rest is irrelevant to the main point people are making in this thread. If people here were arguing that Mark should be locked up for life, you would have a valid point. He did his time and should be allowed to pick up his life and move on - BUT NOT HANDED A PLUM JOB IN THE SAME INDUSTRY/HOBBY HE HELPED TO DEFRAUD.

IMO, that is the only point that matters. Let him be hired in any other field, and I am fine with that. But to quote Marsellus Wallace, to me he has "lost his BB card privileges."

I agree and you beat me to it. As I was reading the post, that's all I could think about. NONE of the rest matters at this point except the argument/discussion of whether he should be employed in the collectibles auction business. My opinion is no. That doesn't mean he can't work elsewhere.

I am confused. The attached picture is from the Heritage terms and conditions, which every bidder has agreed to. Can someone explain the difference in this and the illegal shill bids of mastro? Is it merely the location? Or is there an inherent difference in the 2?

Mark Medlin

Start with bidding with the intent to win and having to pay for the item if you do win vs bidding with the knowledge you won’t end up winning but can raise the price.

In Texas, its legal for an auction house and its employees to bid on the items in their auction. Crazy but true. I've asked before.... if they win the item do they pay a 20% buyers premium... to themselves?

Holy crap.... this is for real. It's in the 12 page PDF (terms and conditions of auction) that is buried on the website. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. Perhaps a new thread needs to be opened on this topic.

I'm trying to figure out what a reasonable explanation could be but I can't.


21. The Auctioneer, its affiliates, or their employees consign items to be sold in the Auction, and may bid on those lots or any other lots. Auctioneer or affiliates expressly reserve the right to modify any such bids at any time prior to the hammer based upon data made known to the Auctioneer or its affiliates. The Auctioneer may extend advances, guarantees, or loans to certain consignors.

What does that mean? "Auctioneer or affiliates expressly reserve the right to modify any such bids at any time prior to the hammer based upon data made known to the Auctioneer or its affiliates.

I agree 1000% with Dewey's post.

I saw what you did there :)

Haha, I guess he decided to just get to the point:rolleyes:

Avoiding having his name come out, perhaps.

Pretty sure if you reference Attila the Hun you have to put your name to it, correct.

Especially if you badmouth him.

Attila was pretty much my all-time favorite Hun.

Oh he was def "the" Hun!

Then please put your full name next to your post per the rules, just as is under Dewey's id. Thanks.

Barry, I couldn't think of another Hun. I'm going to bet not many people can name another Hun without Googling it? Yup, I guess that makes Attila, most everyone's favorite Hun....:p

I don't even really know what a Hun is, but I think if I met one, we would get along just fine.

Here is a Hun I found when I googled it... Hi Barry 😊

Lord have mercy... that was one of Wonka's creations, I think.

“I’m in love, I’m in love
With Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun, Attila the Hun
Though he’ll pillage a village and kill everyone
I still love Attila the Hun”

Tom Lehrer

My favorite is the Vatican Rag, pure genius. Such gems as

2 4 6 8
Time to transubstantiate

Ave Maria
Gee it's good to see ya

Do whatever steps you want if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff

Mine are "We Will All Go Together When We Go" and Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here.
Life is skittles and life is beer.
I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring.
I do, don't you? 'course you do.
But there's one thing that makes spring complete for me,
And makes ev'ry sunday a treat for me.

All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.
Ev'ry sunday you'll see
My sweetheart and me,
As we poison the pigeons in the park.

When they see us coming, the birdies all try an' hide,
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide.
The sun's shining bright,
Ev'rything seems all right,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

Lalaalaalalaladoodiedieedoodoodoo

We've gained notoriety,
And caused much anxiety
In the audubon society
With our games.
They call it impiety,
And lack of propriety,
And quite a variety
Of unpleasant names.
But it's not against any religion
To want to dispose of a pigeon.

So if sunday you're free,
Why don't you come with me,
And we'll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we'll do
In a squirrel or two,
While we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

We'll murder them all amid laughter and merriment.
Except for the few we take home to experiment.
My pulse will be quickenin'
With each drop of strychnine
We feed to a pigeon.
It just takes a smidgin!
To poison a pigeon in the park.

Fred, you probably now realize why there are some collectors who won't bid in Heritage's auctions

H a
 

Val is spot on. Those hinky rules have been on their site for years. Caveat Emptor!

AH is basically telling us that if an item is going for a bargain price, they will run it up. MT is their perfect hire. They already have an office ready for Doug Allen when he is released.

The Nuremberg Defense. Awesome.

There's also a big difference between "making a mistake" and doing the same illegal behavior over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...you get the point.

It's an absolute joke he got another job with an auction house and an even bigger joke that people on here are defending that.

My mom used to say " if your friends jump off the Brooklyn bridge are you going to jump too?" In response to my telling her I did the wrong thing because my friends were doing it. It drives home the point that our integrity is our own to be in or out of alignment with based on decisions we alone make.

There are moments in life where we are faced with decisions to violate or stay aligned with our integrity. If Mark is as "good" a guy as some say - he fell flat on his face with this one. He has been accountable (questionable as to if that was of his own accord or forced because he was caught), but as mentioned earlier - has he made restitution to those he harmed? Did he receive financial rewards for his actions? Did he share as much of the story as he knew with those prosecuting the case to help fill in the blanks of the destroyed records?

I am first in line for forgiveness. It is not my place to judge others. Forgiveness also allows me to live with a lighter heart. I have a retail business and people have stolen from me. I have forgiven all of them ( I have not communicated that to some as the forgiveness first and foremost is about my freedom from their actions). I also have not allowed them back into a position where they could steal from me again. I was shilled by Mastro auctions (1time that I caught them in and refused to pay for the lot that the prior night it said I was outbid on). I am sure I was shilled other times as well. I forgive them. I also don't/wouldn't choose to do business with them again when they finish their time.

I don't know mark nor choose to judge him. I pray that he has learned from his mistakes and will find it easier to stay aligned with his integrity. I am uncomfortable that he has a position in an auction house I have bid with recently.

Hopefully everyone here has read the available list of shill bidders closely enough to know that Mark isn't the only former Mastro employee who is now at Heritage.

Cut to the chase
 

I read the list. Who else is on it that is at heritage now?

Who is Jennifer stein? Paired up with Irv Lerner a lot on the list - shilled me at least once on the list!

His hair stylist?

Barry, I must say you have aged well but the role of Hans Solo was filled years ago, and what does Chewbacca collect? Star Wars cards, I expect. And contrary to rumors Atilla did not sack Rome. That was the job of another Visigoth. Interested Net 54'ers will have to look up the answer. Asking Siri doesn't count. Remember, I taught history at Norman Thomas High on the East Side of Manhattan.

Why hire
 

I never bid in a Mastro auction so not a real victim but I still can’t understand why a big, diverse, international auction house would make such a hire. Aren’t they bonded and insured, which should have a negative impact on those cost. Don’t they have any type of mentoring program where they can hire a suitable, non convicted candidate from within?

+1

You mention Irv Lerner/Jennifer Stein partnership shill bid you once - there are about sixty other lots they shill bid that are recorded on that document.

I saw that. I know who Irv Lerner is - wondering who Jennifer stein is. Interesting how they switch rolls - sometimes consignor, sometimes shil bidder.

Disturbing
 

Irv lerner was a hobby “legend “ but he always struck me as just about the meanest guy who ever lived. I know others felt differently about him but the mastro info is not a great legacy.

Tim

Was he the one allegedly selling bad rings or am I thinking of someone else?

Following orders
 

Ya know when I first started practicing medicine I had very few patients and I earned money to pay all the bills by filling various posts. I did endoscopy procedures on Fridays for a Community Health Center. I was the Chief Medical Officer of the Floral-Park Bellerose Schools. As such I had to attend all the Varsity games. One year, in a playoff game, the team's best player injured his knee. The kid and the coach wanted to keep playing. I took him out of the game. The irate coach told me to play the kid or he'd make sure I wasn't back the next School year. I took the player to the locker room and iced his knee.....I wasn't re-hired.

The path of integrity is often not the easiest to follow, but always the right one.

You would have done well as an NFL team doctor.

There is also the the issue of 'fool me once shame on you....

If someone gets burned by Heritage now due to something caused by Theo, its not like Heritage can claim they didnt know about him when hiring him so I am sure they assessed the risk and find him a good risk. They will be in the line of fire.

Im all for giving people 2nd chances as well especially if they go into trouble as a teenager like someone said in this thread

with that being said, i am into giving people first chances too who may not have an opportunity due to someone being given a second chance...plus the reason the person may be given a second chance is because of unique knowledge and networking that may of partially be gained due to being part of a conspiracy/criminal enterprise. They can be all cleaned up now, but the fact they got all this information puts them ahead of someone trying to get a a first chance. Again i am talking generally.

TOUCHE.......or should I say TOUPE?

uh...
 

I don't imagine Mark T. is a teenager.:D

I have been in a position where, like you, I was pressured to do something that violated my integrity in the course of my professional duties. Refusing could potentially cost me my job. I refused. It's not always easy to do the right thing but it IS always the right thing to do the right thing.

I was thinking “Crime Pays”.

you mean white collar crime pays..


easier to steal with a pen versus a gun