New York Daily News Coverage Updates Ongoing FBI Sports Memorabilia Fraud Investigation

New York Daily News sports writer Michael O’Keefe has been publishing an ongoing series of articles about an FBI investigation into the sports memorabilia industry (see Mastro Auctions Closes In Midst Of FBI Investigation Into Shill Bidding & Fraud Allegations).  Two updates have been published this week by the Daily News. Read more

eBay Shill Bidder Ordered By Judge To Pay £5,000

As reported back in April (see New eBay Legal Development in the UK – Seller to be Fined up to £50,000 for Shill Bidding), an eBay seller in the UK, Paul Barrett, plead guilty to shill bidding his own auctions. Yesterday, the judge in the case ordered Barrett to pay £5,000 in fines and court costs and to do 250 hours of community service. Read more

New eBay Legal Development in the UK – Seller to be Fined up to £50,000 for Shill Bidding

The latest in a series of interesting legal developments related to eBay in the past few years, breaking news today is the case of an eBay seller in the UK who faces up to £50,000 in fines for shill bidding his own auctions.  The Daily Mail reports this is the first case in which someone is being fined for such activities. Read more

Update on New York State Assembly Bill A01730/S4313B: Seeks More Transparency For Auction Houses

This article serves as an update to a feature published one year ago (see Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure).  Read more

Recent Court Rulings and Legal Actions Make Publishing Comments Via the Internet a Little Less Anonymous

There have been a number of recent developments involving lawsuits and legal motions filed intended to reveal the authors of comments published on the Internet anonymously.  Read more

Heritage Auction Galleries Lawsuit In The News; Claims of “Fake Bidder” N.P. Gresham, Auction Manipulation

Last month, there were a number of mainstream media outlets reporting on a lawsuit filed against Heritage Auction Galleries by a former employee who charges, among other things, that the auction house utilizes a fictitious bidder – “N.P. Gresham” – to participate in bidding in its own auction events.  Read more

Mastro Auctions Closes In Midst Of FBI Investigation Into Shill Bidding & Fraud Allegations

Mastro Auctions, the largest sports memorabilia auction house, has closed amid an FBI fraud investigation.  Three Mastro executives have purchased the company’s assets and will launch a new company called Legendary Auctions.  Part of the investigation by law enforcement is focused on charges of “shill bidding”. Read more

Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure

An article published in 2007 (see Auction House Buying Considerations, Part II: Chandelier Bid (“Sham Bidding”) Legislation) discussed proposed legislation related to “sham” or “chandelier” bids, described by a New York legislator as “chicanery perpetrated by auction houses,” with auction house Sotheby’s opposed to the legislation. Read more

eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis – Part 2

An article published earlier this week (see eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis, Part 1) included analysis of a select set of eBay accounts and their bidding activities with eBay seller *stoneark* (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles).  Anthony Shkutnick, partnered with eBay, offers for public sale “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe attributed to various classic Hollywood stars.

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eBay’s *stoneark*: “Buyer/Bidder Network” Analysis – Part 1

30 days ago, I began performing an analysis of eBay seller *stoneark* (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles) and bid participation patterns on his listings of “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe attributed to various classic Hollywood stars.  As a result, I identified 8 accounts that share not only some remarkable coincidences, but nearly each one has transacted with all of the rest, in addition to buying from *stoneark*.

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