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#1
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Doug Allen
First let me state that we at Mastro Auctions take very seriously the claims made in the New York Daily News article. Good customers/friends of ours like Richard Masson and Jay Miller understand just how important integrity is when in comes to conducting auctions both for my firm and for me personally. I appreciate their friendship and kind comments. |
#2
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Dan Bretta
This is the same reporter is it not who made claims about the DiMaggio streak bat about 1 1/2 years ago? The same reporter who was invited to come check the evidence in person and declined?...the same reporter who never contacted me or anyone else who went to that meeting to review the evidence? |
#3
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Doug, thanks for the "response." I had a couple of questions if I may. I don't mean to be a pain in the ass or even remotely infringe upon your defense to these allegations, but since you talked to the reporter I thought you might want to allay some concerns here. If you're unable, I obviously understand. |
#4
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Harry Wallace (HW)
Nearly every O'Keefe article that I read in the paper stirs up some sort of controversy. |
#5
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Yeah, I know it's him. Did he ever write a retraction on the DiMaggio bat? |
#6
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Anonymous
sounds like time for a libel suit on this "news source" |
#7
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
It can't be a libel case. You guys are blaming the newspaper when all they are doing is reporting what a prosecutor is telling them. Why are you guys so quick to believe the allegations against Noe but disbelieve those against Mastro - when in fact the allegations are made by the same prosecutor? I will say, however, that it is unusual for a prosecutor to come out and discuss allegations against a company but also apparently admit that it's investigation against said company are on the "back burner." |
#8
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
Well for one reason I already know for certain that Michael O'Keefe does not care about objectivity. That's a fact. |
#9
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Richard Masson
I read the article multiple times to try to decipher the facts. It is very unclear. Noe convinced the state to invest $50 million in two coin investment partnerships. Who managed them? Did Noe receive a commission? Did Noe monitor or oversee the investments? Was he paid? |
#10
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Gilbert Maines
Let us not confuse the NY Daily News with the NY Times. The former relys more heavily, in my opinion, on sensationalism to secure their market share, while the latter often engages in research prior to drawing conclusions or making innuendos. |
#11
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: warshawlaw
Given Judith Miller and the plaigiarism scandals that have plagued the Times, you might want to rethink that statement. |
#12
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: jeff lichtman
Richard, again, I don't think there is any connection between Noe's purported fraud and Mastro other than the fact that Mastro's items were purchased by Noe. What the prosecutor seems to be saying, at least via the News article, is that the investigation of Noe's Mastro purchases has led them to believe that Mastro engaged in shill bidding and other fraudulent activities. |
#13
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jay
Many years ago Tom Paxton sung a song called Daily News. The song's refrain was: |
#14
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
Adam, I didn't make the comparison between the Times and the Daily News. |
#15
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Corey R. Shanus
I have had many dealings with Mastro Auctions over the years, and I have always been satisfied with the process and the service I received. There have been a number of instances where I have left max bids and won the item at a price below my max bid. I think it would be very wrong and very unfair to pass judgment based solely on unproven allegations reported in a newspaper, especially in the instance of an auction house with such a stellar reputation. Unless and until such allegations are prosecuted and proven, Mastro Auctions in my book is entitled to the presumption of innocence that any American individual or entity is entitled to receive. |
#16
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)
I would like to also bring up another point! I've left plenty of bids where my max was not only exceeded but exceeded by several higher bids and sometimes in the thousands of dollars!!! Has that ever happened to anyone else? |
#17
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: David Vargha
I would like to also bring up another point! I've left plenty of bids where my max was not only exceeded but exceeded by several higher bids and sometimes in the thousands of dollars!!! Has that ever happened to anyone else? |
#18
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Cobby33
Does anybody have a link to this article? Sorry if it's already been provided. Thanks. |
#19
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Response to Allegations
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#20
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)
I'll be honest with everybody. I just read that article and I don't understand the allegations. Somebody made a few really bad decisions in investing in collectibles as it is related to public funds. I suggest everyone read the article. It's a little humorous in the context of the use of (or lack of) common sense. |
#21
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Cobby33
Fred, agreed. |
#22
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: DJ
Amen! When I posted the link, I was prepared to make my opinion on this but I didn't know exactly what my opinion would be in this matter. I had to re-read it. Does any of this make sense? |
#23
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Mark
I understand the article. My take is that accusing Mastro of shilling was a natural, knee-jerk reaction to finding out the taxpayers' money was misappropriated. By that I mean the state of Ohio has recently learned that tens of millions of dollars has been wrongfully invested in coins, beanie babies and penny baseball cards. |
#24
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: leon
Are you insinuating that you have not read on the board, or other places, about allegations against auction houses? |
#25
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
I have to say that it's somewhat humerous to read the responses of board members falling over themselves claiming that the article does nothing to impugn Mastro's credibility. Again, the writer is simply reporting what the prosecutor in Ohio and his auditor are saying: that they believe that Mastro engaged in shill bidding based upon their review of documents received from their investigation of Noe's bidding on Mastro items. How does the reporting of this allegation somehow impact on the News's credibility? How can the reporter at this stage possibly substantiate the prosecutor's allegation when the reporter doesn't have access to Mastro's bidding records? In fact, the reporter's story has a great source for the allegation - the investigator and prosecutor who made the allegation. Those are the 'named' sources. You should see how many times newspapers (including the Daily News) report much more serious allegations and attribute the sources to unnamed "law enforcement sources." As a defense lawyer, it drives me crazy. In this case, however, the very people that built the case against the republican fundraiser are now claiming that Mastro engaged in shill bidding. Don't blame the reporter for putting this in his article as his source is named and in a position to know if shill bidding occurred. That being said, prosecutors are well known to lie about their allegations for any number of reasons (see Mike Nifong, Durham County, NC DA). |
#26
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: BcD
for us non-subscribers to the liberal newspaper! |
#27
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Peter Spaeth
It's a flip of 'coin' probe |
#28
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Mark
Yes, I relied on your statement that many or most auction houses have been accused of shilling their auctions since it sounded plausible, but I haven't read up on the topic. |
#29
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: leon
http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/message/1145995766/So+who%27s+going+to+pony+up+for+Pete+Hill- |
#30
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Mark
Thanks Leon, but I don't think Ryan was accused of having shilled his own auction. Can he even see people's max bids using Seth's software? |
#31
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: warshawlaw
I've dealt with the writer of the article (Michael O'Keefe) and have found him to be very responsible in following up his leads and trying to get all points of the story clear. The article clearly names the people making the allegations and reports them as allegations, not as facts. It also reports Mastro's denials. I see no evidence of bias here and I think the criticisms of the writer are wholly inaccurate. |
#32
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Adam, your points are well taken; however, I can't imagine that any investigation of Mastro would be seen by anyone as a possible boon to their careers. After all, Bill Mastro is not Martha Stewart. Any investigation of Mastro would get little to no national publicity. In short, other than us and other memorabilia bidders, no one cares about Mastro. If Bill Mastro were indicted and convicted, the story would merit page 21 in a NY paper .... and the story would die after one day. |
#33
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Adam, did Mr O'Keefe ever print a retraction about the DiMaggio streak bat? Both he and your client Robert Plancich were invited to come see the evidence for themselves and both turned down the chance. Why? The evidence was very strongly in favor of the bat being legitimate, and as it turned out things that Mr Plancich had claimed turned out to be completely false. O'Keefe has run many stories regarding the memorabilia industry and IMO fancies himself as a crusader. He was wrong about the DiMaggio bat, and I believe he has a bias against Mastro for that very reason. |
#34
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: warshawlaw
Everyone who hasn't already figured it out, I did not mean Dan. Sorry. |
#35
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Dan, so your position is that the News writer has a beef against Mastro and that is why he wrote an article quoting a named law enforcement official claiming that Mastro is engaged in shill bidding? Do you think that the prosecutor has a beef against Mastro as well? |
#36
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
I think O'Keefe got word that Mastro was being investigated and jumped into it....I'm not saying that he's trying to frame them or anything like that. I just don't think he can be an unbiased reporter when it comes to Mastronet. |
#37
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
And for the record Adam if I attribute something to you that you didn't say you will get an apology from me and a correction. As for the whole DiMaggio bat thing it's old news and I understand why you couldn't be there, but hey O'Keefe made it his business and he still refused to show up and look at the evidence. I also sent all of the evidence to Plancich, but he never told me whether or not if he showed it to you. |
#38
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Dan, the reporter interviewed the DA in Ohio and let Doug Allen respond to his heart's delight. How does that make the reporter unbiased? Do you really think that Mastronet inspires global hatred the way Microsoft does? |
#39
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
Have you ever followed O'Keefe's stories? He has a hard on for the memorabilia industry. I can understand wanting to see it cleaned up and it definitely needed that -and still does, but I have firsthand knowledge that he ignored evidence that was contrary to his original claims. |
#40
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Dan, I suspect you'll find that the national media has more scrutiny placed upon it than mid-level auction houses. |
#41
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: BcD
got an e-mail address? |
#42
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
The national media is unresponsive to scrutiny and criticism. |
#43
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Dan, you're probably right. The News writer probably spends his days and nights dreaming up ways to screw over that big, bad monolith of a company, Mastronet, the company responsible for poisoning our children, controlling prices and ruining our neighborhoods. He enlisted a District Attorney's Office in Ohio to fabricate a criminal probe of shill bidding, caused an innocent Republican fundraiser to be framed, all in order to take down Mastronet in the eyes of the public...and he did this all, risked his career, risked the career of the prosecutor, all to get an article put on page 87 of his paper, which will only be about the 224th most significant article of that one day's paper. Oh, and all of this occurred on the grassy knoll with Oliver Stone filming nearby. |
#44
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Gilbert Maines
Well Adam, I surely do not wish to be cast in a role which requires me to defend the actions of any newspaper. But really, I do not believe that the activities of a single or even several employees of the NY Times can have much impact on the credibility which that paper has generated in its 150+ year history. |
#45
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Gil, I think Adam meant to type "Jayson Blair." |
#46
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: David Vargha
Today's journalist is extremely lazy by nature. Once a story "hits the wire", most of the electronic and print media jump on it without ever bothering to determine the veracity or consider the source. Thus, it becomes "gospel". |
#47
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Gilbert Maines
Jayson Blair - I did not know about this. Now I feel so much more enlightened. A bombshell, a melodrama, a scandal, the shooting down of a rising star! All because of (the dreaded) copying. Come on, Santa smokes! Reportedly, a little girl saw smoke from his pipe encircling his head like a wreath. Or maybe it wasn't "reportedly". Maybe it really was written somewhere. In any case, sources say that children are routinely exposed to second hand smoke by a villan from the north. And worse - at Christmastime! |
#48
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: warshawlaw
Blair ripped off other peoples' stuff. Miller reported made up stuff without any effort at accuracy. |
#49
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
David, of course all people have biases. So do presidents of auction houses being accused of shill bidding. Whose bias do you suspect is greater? The reporter from a NY paper who wrote a non-descript article appearing on page 87 of his paper or the president of the auction house who has everything to lose if shill bidding is uncovered? |
#50
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Response to Allegations
Posted By: Daniel Bretta
Jeff, you are reading way more into my posts than is there. Why is that? If you read carefully, and Reading Is Fundamental ($1 RIF) I said exactly this only a few posts up: "I think O'Keefe got word that Mastro was being investigated and jumped into it....I'm not saying that he's trying to frame them or anything like that. I just don't think he can be an unbiased reporter when it comes to Mastronet." That is all I am saying. |
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