Bill Mastro denies widespread fraud in his auctions -- yesterday.

[botn]

Jeff Lichtman is either in possession of or has seen the bidder records many times as he has alluded to it over and over. He has also said hundreds if not thousands of bidders were shilled. How do we get to see bidder records to see if we are victims?

[mightyq]

figured i would throw my story out there,

I bid on a ton of mastro auctions nonsports cards over the years, probably from 2002-08 going into legendary. anyway i forget the auction date, but i went to bed with ceiling bids on 7 lots, each was well off my ceiling and i was the winner on most. next day comes and i find out i won all 7 lots and the bidding stopped within 1 bid of each auction that would have out bid me. figure i paid thousands more that day for putting the ceiling bids in. never did that again. matter of fact that was the start of the end for me. although i had no proof i didnt need it to know that to have all 7 lots reach my ceiling was anything but shill bidding. now i dont know for sure, but i would guess that bill himself didnt do this all night long. I would assume some very in the know employees did lots if not all the dirty work, and when bill takes the stand to throw a few under the bus real soon we will get an idea as to how and who done this. pretty sure bill will be singing away when the time comes. If i were a part of bills all star team of the mastro years i would be getting ready to have my life ruined by him and ready for my family to get embarassed when articles are written for weeks to come. we will never know who what and the monetary value of all the shilling, but rest assured the govt. isnt spending all this money and man power to put this together just to catch bill. could you imagine the puppets that did the dirty work, full well knowing their guilty. they wake up each morning knowing its one day closer to their own demise.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by mightyq

figured i would throw my story out there,

I bid on a ton of mastro auctions nonsports cards over the years, probably from 2002-08 going into legendary. anyway i forget the auction date, but i went to bed with ceiling bids on 7 lots, each was well off my ceiling and i was the winner on most. next day comes and i find out i won all 7 lots and the bidding stopped within 1 bid of each auction that would have out bid me. figure i paid thousands more that day for putting the ceiling bids in. never did that again. matter of fact that was the start of the end for me. although i had no proof i didnt need it to know that to have all 7 lots reach my ceiling was anything but shill bidding. now i dont know for sure, but i would guess that bill himself didnt do this all night long. I would assume some very in the know employees did lots if not all the dirty work, and when bill takes the stand to throw a few under the bus real soon we will get an idea as to how and who done this. pretty sure bill will be singing away when the time comes. If i were a part of bills all star team of the mastro years i would be getting ready to have my life ruined by him and ready for my family to get embarassed when articles are written for weeks to come. we will never know who what and the monetary value of all the shilling, but rest assured the govt. isnt spending all this money and man power to put this together just to catch bill. could you imagine the puppets that did the dirty work, full well knowing their guilty. they wake up each morning knowing its one day closer to their own demise.

Marty I share your experience as a lot of us have gone through the myriad of emotions over this whole mess, including surprise, denial, frustration and finally anger. I do wonder, though, how much his associates and employees have to worry about. It's not that I think that he will be a martyr and bite the bullet for the whole crew, but I am not sure there will be the all-encompassing web of justice you anticipate. Maybe someone will be indicted and get probation but I doubt anyone is going to get the whole story and all responsible individuals brought to justice. Hope I'm wrong....

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by tbob

Marty I share your experience as a lot of us have gone through the myriad of emotions over this whole mess, including surprise, denial, frustration and finally anger. I do wonder, though, how much his associates and employees have to worry about. It's not that I think that he will be a martyr and bite the bullet for the whole crew, but I am not sure there will be the all-encompassing web of justice you anticipate. Maybe someone will be indicted and get probation but I doubt anyone is going to get the whole story and all responsible individuals brought to justice. Hope I'm wrong....

Bill isn't biting the bullet for anyone. On the very day he was indicted in this case, his lawyer indicated he was cooperating with the feds. Bill Mastro is for one person: Bill Mastro. He's clearly pissed that he's receiving any grief for his crimes because, after all, this has been a tough time for him and his family.

[drcy]

I thought that in Catholicism, lying was considered a sin.

[mightyq]

I also want to say I do not think that all of mastro employees were doing criminal activity . I have friends at legendary that worked for mastro for years, they get the benefit of the doubt from me until I see what and if anything ever unfolds.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

What? A Bill Mastro thread without some information gleaned from Michael O'Keeffe? This forum is really starting to slip.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-...icle-1.1482098

Quote from the article:

Prosecutors believe the scheme conducted by Mastro and his associates between 2002 and 2009 cost collectors between $400,000 and $1 million. Monico, who declined comment after the hearing, has said the scheme cost collectors between $30,000 and $70,000.

[irishdenny]

Originally Posted by drcy

I thought that in Catholicism, lying was considered a sin.

A venial sin, but not a mortal sin... perhaps?

[ullmandds]

say my name!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Oxux1o2rQ

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by tbob

Marty I share your experience as a lot of us have gone through the myriad of emotions over this whole mess, including surprise, denial, frustration and finally anger. I do wonder, though, how much his associates and employees have to worry about. It's not that I think that he will be a martyr and bite the bullet for the whole crew, but I am not sure there will be the all-encompassing web of justice you anticipate. Maybe someone will be indicted and get probation but I doubt anyone is going to get the whole story and all responsible individuals brought to justice. Hope I'm wrong....

Are you not aware that two others were indicted?

[ScottFandango]

Originally Posted by mightyq

figured i would throw my story out there,

I bid on a ton of mastro auctions nonsports cards over the years, probably from 2002-08 going into legendary. anyway i forget the auction date, but i went to bed with ceiling bids on 7 lots, each was well off my ceiling and i was the winner on most. next day comes and i find out i won all 7 lots and the bidding stopped within 1 bid of each auction that would have out bid me. figure i paid thousands more that day for putting the ceiling bids in. never did that again. matter of fact that was the start of the end for me. although i had no proof i didnt need it to know that to have all 7 lots reach my ceiling was anything but shill bidding. now i dont know for sure, but i would guess that bill himself didnt do this all night long. I would assume some very in the know employees did lots if not all the dirty work, and when bill takes the stand to throw a few under the bus real soon we will get an idea as to how and who done this. pretty sure bill will be singing away when the time comes. If i were a part of bills all star team of the mastro years i would be getting ready to have my life ruined by him and ready for my family to get embarassed when articles are written for weeks to come. we will never know who what and the monetary value of all the shilling, but rest assured the govt. isnt spending all this money and man power to put this together just to catch bill. could you imagine the puppets that did the dirty work, full well knowing their guilty. they wake up each morning knowing its one day closer to their own demise.

GREAT POST, thanks

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by botn

Jeff Lichtman is either in possession of or has seen the bidder records many times as he has alluded to it over and over. He has also said hundreds if not thousands of bidders were shilled. How do we get to see bidder records to see if we are victims?

By the way, Greg, I have seen some of the Mastro bidding records. And wouldn't you know it, even some consignors shill bid their own lots. Even some people on this thread. Can you imagine that?

[nsaddict]

Very interesting Jeff, can you give us a hint without names? Let's say post number(s)

Tom, you got me...Bill and I made a killing on the Beanie Baby craze haha

[autograf]

So what's gonna happen to those people? That information should be released so we can all view it. Will that ever happen or will it be seals for some reason? I don't doubt that cons ignore shill their own items.

Richard....I'm thinking post 62.....

[calvindog]

Probably people who bid in Mastro's auctions should consider hiring a lawyer (not me) to contact the court and see if these records can be released so that a determination of whether they were defrauded can be made. Or else a lawsuit against Mastro should be brought and the records subpoenaed. I'm not getting involved of any of it and honestly all I would like to see is for the crooks to disgorge their ill-gotten gains.

PS definitely poster #63.

[Fred]

I have a question -

Did the Mastro auctions bidding system allow them (Bill and his crew) access to who was bidding and how much they were bidding, including information regarding what the bidder top bids were?

I can remember a time where you had to either phone in a bid and no computers were used. I suppose that would give the auction house the ability to really hose over their bidders.

Perhaps I'm a bit naive and I always believed that most of the top auctions were always on the level.

The shill bidding bugs me but the one thing that I've been finally waiting to hear is what everybody seems to have known about for a long time - the trimmed Wagner.

Maybe Bill will have some time to reflect when he's in his cell and maybe he'll come to terms with what he did and own up to what he did.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Fred

I have a question -

Did the Mastro auctions bidding system allow them (Bill and his crew) access to who was bidding and how much they were bidding, including information regarding what the bidder top bids were?

Answer: YES

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by calvindog

By the way, Greg, I have seen some of the Mastro bidding records. And wouldn't you know it, even some consignors shill bid their own lots. Even some people on this thread. Can you imagine that?

I am shocked such things go on.