Posted By:
Aaron M.This really just continues an amazing chain of events concerning Mastro Auctions and Doug Allen over the last year.
You gotta think this is just an attempt by Doug to layer himself and his cohorts from legal liability that could result from multiple lawsuits against MastroNet if indeed it turns out that shill bidding was going on for years (as their inability to produce bidding records to the FBI would seem to indicate). As others have pointed out though, the manner in which they've done it (which I would assume came under advice from their criminal defense lawyers) seems extraordinarily transparent and probably wouldn't stick.
Personally, I wonder if this means that charges are imminent from the FBI investigation, and this is an attempt to prevent the FBI from seizing their assets (well, their consignor's assets). Knowing that that threat is hanging over them, I just don't know how anyone consigns valuable material to them unless they are truly desperate (i.e., American Memorabilia desperate).
With their sales already way down (suspiciously after the investigation was announced and after Doug announced Mastro would start keeping bidding records), I just don't see how this rather half-ass attempt at a new incarnation is going to survive.
I still vividly recall getting an unsolicited call from Doug Allen about five years ago vehemently denying that the fact that Mastro allowed its employees to bid on Mastro auctions was harmful to bidder trust and could give the appearance that shill bidding was going on. It only took five years and an FBI criminal investigation to change his mind. 
You just know that somewhere Rob Lifson is reading this stuff and laughing his butt off.