Eric
07-18-2014, 08:52 AM
From NY Daily News
Mastro Auctions executive Mark Theotikos expected to plead guilty to wire and mail fraud
The indictment alleges that Theotikos, Doug Allen and company founder Bill Mastro routinely defrauded customers by rigging its auctions through shill bidding.
BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
Former Mastro Auctions executive Mark Theotikos, who was indicted on six counts of wire and mail fraud two years ago, is expected to enter a guilty plea when he appears in Chicago federal court next month.
Theotikos, who pleaded not guilty to the charges shortly after he was indicted in July of 2012, is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 5.
Two other Mastro Auctions defendants, Doug Allen and William Boehm, are scheduled to go to trial in September.
The indictment alleges that Theotikos, Allen and company founder Bill Mastro routinely defrauded customers by rigging its auctions through shill bidding.
Bill Mastro, the founder of Mastro Auctions and once one of the most powerful executives in the sports-memorabilia industry, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in October and faces up to five years in prison. Mastro agreed to cooperate with investigators and will be formally sentenced after the cases against his former business associates are completed.
Mastro acknowledged that he engaged in shill bidding and also admitted trimming the world’s most expensive baseball card, the T206 Honus Wagner once owned by NHL star Wayne Gretzky that Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick purchased in 2007 for $2.8 million.
Mastro Auctions, known for providing collectors with unique and expensive baseball cards and collectibles, was sports memorabilia’s most important company as the hobby evolved from a sleepy pastime into a multi-billion industry in the 1990s and 2000s. But it all began crashing down in 2007, as the Daily News first reported, when the FBI’s Chicago office launched an investigation into sports-memorabilia fraud. Mastro Auctions went out of business in 2009.
Theotikos and Allen founded Legendary Auctions immediately after their old company went out of business. The FBI raided the Arkansas office and home of an investor in that company, John Rogers, the owner of a photo archive, in January.
Meanwhile, a February 2013 letter written by a former Mastro Auctions customer to the judge overseeing the Mastro case was made public on Wednesday.
Seattle psychologist Stephen J. Cummings told U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Guzman that Mastro had taken advantage of his passion for collecting and his naivete to rip him off.
Cummings said Mastro’s lawyer had asked him to write a letter of reference to the court following his indictment, but this is probably not what he had in mind. He called Mastro a “very aggressive, somewhat crude individual” who may suffer from narcissistic personality disorder with anti-social features.
“In short, he has a major character defect that would be difficult to treat in a therapeutic setting,” Cummings wrote. “I think Mr. Mastro became addicted to money and power, and enjoyed the process of ‘screwing’ unwitting collectors.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/mastro-auctions-executive-mark-theotikos-expected-plead-guilty-wire-mail-fraud-article-1.1871569
Mastro Auctions executive Mark Theotikos expected to plead guilty to wire and mail fraud
The indictment alleges that Theotikos, Doug Allen and company founder Bill Mastro routinely defrauded customers by rigging its auctions through shill bidding.
BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
Former Mastro Auctions executive Mark Theotikos, who was indicted on six counts of wire and mail fraud two years ago, is expected to enter a guilty plea when he appears in Chicago federal court next month.
Theotikos, who pleaded not guilty to the charges shortly after he was indicted in July of 2012, is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 5.
Two other Mastro Auctions defendants, Doug Allen and William Boehm, are scheduled to go to trial in September.
The indictment alleges that Theotikos, Allen and company founder Bill Mastro routinely defrauded customers by rigging its auctions through shill bidding.
Bill Mastro, the founder of Mastro Auctions and once one of the most powerful executives in the sports-memorabilia industry, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in October and faces up to five years in prison. Mastro agreed to cooperate with investigators and will be formally sentenced after the cases against his former business associates are completed.
Mastro acknowledged that he engaged in shill bidding and also admitted trimming the world’s most expensive baseball card, the T206 Honus Wagner once owned by NHL star Wayne Gretzky that Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick purchased in 2007 for $2.8 million.
Mastro Auctions, known for providing collectors with unique and expensive baseball cards and collectibles, was sports memorabilia’s most important company as the hobby evolved from a sleepy pastime into a multi-billion industry in the 1990s and 2000s. But it all began crashing down in 2007, as the Daily News first reported, when the FBI’s Chicago office launched an investigation into sports-memorabilia fraud. Mastro Auctions went out of business in 2009.
Theotikos and Allen founded Legendary Auctions immediately after their old company went out of business. The FBI raided the Arkansas office and home of an investor in that company, John Rogers, the owner of a photo archive, in January.
Meanwhile, a February 2013 letter written by a former Mastro Auctions customer to the judge overseeing the Mastro case was made public on Wednesday.
Seattle psychologist Stephen J. Cummings told U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Guzman that Mastro had taken advantage of his passion for collecting and his naivete to rip him off.
Cummings said Mastro’s lawyer had asked him to write a letter of reference to the court following his indictment, but this is probably not what he had in mind. He called Mastro a “very aggressive, somewhat crude individual” who may suffer from narcissistic personality disorder with anti-social features.
“In short, he has a major character defect that would be difficult to treat in a therapeutic setting,” Cummings wrote. “I think Mr. Mastro became addicted to money and power, and enjoyed the process of ‘screwing’ unwitting collectors.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/mastro-auctions-executive-mark-theotikos-expected-plead-guilty-wire-mail-fraud-article-1.1871569