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
Filed Under:
Fraud in the News,
News and EventsTagged:
assets,
auction,
auction house,
collectibles,
counterfeit,
dealer,
fbi,
forgery,
Fraud,
grand jury,
investigation,
mastro auctions,
memorabilia,
national sports collectors convention,
new york daily news,
operation foul ball,
shill,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
sports memorabilia,
united states postal service 
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
Filed Under:
Fraud in the News,
Governmental Agencies, Law Enforcement,
News and EventsTagged:
auction,
auction house,
auctioneer,
bonhams,
buyer,
chandelier bid,
chandelier bidding,
christies,
Costume,
deceptive practice,
Film,
Fraud,
legislature,
Movie,
new york,
Original,
Prop,
public,
seller,
sham bid,
sham bidding,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
sotheby's,
Television,
Wardrobe 
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
Filed Under:
Fraud in the News,
Governmental Agencies, Law Enforcement,
News and EventsTagged:
auction,
auction house,
auctioneer,
bonhams,
buyer,
chandelier bid,
chandelier bidding,
christies,
Costume,
deceptive practice,
Film,
Fraud,
Jason De Bord,
Jason DeBord,
jasondebord,
jdebord,
julien's,
legislature,
Movie,
new york,
Original,
original prop blog,
originalprop.com,
originalpropblog,
OriginalPropBlog.com,
profiles in history,
Prop,
public,
seller,
sham bid,
sham bidding,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
sotheby's,
Television,
Wardrobe 
Today, Anthony Shkutnick’s *stoneark* eBay account (AKA stonark, AKA Corner Collectibles, AKA Cornner Collectibles) was changed to a suspended or “NARU” status (Not A Registered User – or – No Longer A Registered User). This dealer has been the focus of an ongoing investigation into the provenance of items offered for sale to the public that were “guaranteed authentic” wardrobe and other personal items attributed to various classic Hollywood stars and other celebrities. Read more
Filed Under:
Market Watch,
stonark / *stoneark* / Corner Collectibles (Anthony Shkutnick)Tagged:
Allen Stuart Jeffries,
Angevin Rostad,
animal society free hospital,
anna hemkins,
anthony shkutnick,
apnj,
Atlantic City,
auction,
auction house,
authentic,
authenticity,
b1966,
cbs executive,
certificate of authenticity,
Clarmont Auctions,
coa,
corner collectibles,
Cornner Collectibles,
Costume,
Dave Ritz,
delete,
dooble auction house,
doris galehouse,
doumont auction,
ebay,
florida,
Fraud,
George Chebitar,
grauman's chinese theater,
guarantee,
historic,
Hollywood,
hollywood of fame,
imcrazyforlucy,
imdb,
Jeremy Slone,
joe king,
kieth dooble,
Lanny Poffo,
Las Vegas,
Lenny Poffo,
lighting technician,
Linda Clarmont,
linda thomas,
listing,
Mary Halpine,
memorabilia,
michelle winefiels,
Moe Howard,
montreal film house,
my-imac,
naru,
Nevada,
new york,
nichie auctions,
no longer a registered user,
not a registered user,
o-my-starz,
policy,
Prop,
Provenance,
R&R Auction,
remove,
Reno,
richard lower,
robert jiras,
sales and auctions,
Sands Hotel & Casino,
seller,
set designer,
sfss,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
Silver Screen Film Society Auction,
Simon Halpine,
Slone Arts and Auction Center,
Slone Brothers,
stonark,
terry omound,
todd richards,
topeka,
toycollies2,
trust & safety,
trust and safety,
t_hunter1995,
vintage,
Wardrobe,
william lestico,
william markham,
William Morris Agency,
william tuttle,
william tuttle studios,
wilson hawks auction,
world of hollywood 
Today, professional wrestler Lanny Poffo has declared that a Letter of Authenticity bearing his (misspelled) name and signature, included as proof of authenticity in a recent *stoneark* auction, is fraudulent.
Read more
Filed Under:
Market Watch,
stonark / *stoneark* / Corner Collectibles (Anthony Shkutnick)Tagged:
Allen Stuart Jeffries,
Angevin Rostad,
animal society free hospital,
anna hemkins,
anthony shkutnick,
apnj,
Atlantic City,
auction,
auction house,
authentic,
authenticity,
b1966,
cbs executive,
certificate of authenticity,
Clarmont Auctions,
coa,
corner collectibles,
Cornner Collectibles,
Costume,
Dave Ritz,
delete,
dooble auction house,
doris galehouse,
doumont auction,
ebay,
florida,
Fraud,
George Chebitar,
grauman's chinese theater,
guarantee,
historic,
Hollywood,
hollywood of fame,
imcrazyforlucy,
imdb,
Jeremy Slone,
joe king,
kieth dooble,
Lanny Poffo,
Las Vegas,
Lenny Poffo,
lighting technician,
Linda Clarmont,
linda thomas,
listing,
Mary Halpine,
memorabilia,
michelle winefiels,
Moe Howard,
montreal film house,
my-imac,
Nevada,
new york,
nichie auctions,
o-my-starz,
policy,
Prop,
Provenance,
R&R Auction,
remove,
Reno,
richard lower,
robert jiras,
sales and auctions,
Sands Hotel & Casino,
seller,
set designer,
sfss,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
Silver Screen Film Society Auction,
Simon Halpine,
Slone Arts and Auction Center,
Slone Brothers,
stonark,
terry omound,
todd richards,
topeka,
toycollies2,
trust & safety,
trust and safety,
t_hunter1995,
vintage,
Wardrobe,
william lestico,
william markham,
William Morris Agency,
william tuttle,
william tuttle studios,
wilson hawks auction,
world of hollywood 
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.
Read more
Filed Under:
Market Watch,
stonark / *stoneark* / Corner Collectibles (Anthony Shkutnick)Tagged:
Allen Stuart Jeffries,
Angevin Rostad,
animal society free hospital,
anna hemkins,
anthony shkutnick,
apnj,
Atlantic City,
auction,
auction house,
authentic,
authenticity,
b1966,
cbs executive,
certificate of authenticity,
Clarmont Auctions,
coa,
corner collectibles,
Cornner Collectibles,
Costume,
Dave Ritz,
delete,
dooble auction house,
doris galehouse,
doumont auction,
ebay,
florida,
George Chebitar,
grauman's chinese theater,
guarantee,
historic,
Hollywood,
hollywood of fame,
imcrazyforlucy,
imdb,
Jeremy Slone,
joe king,
kieth dooble,
Las Vegas,
lighting technician,
Linda Clarmont,
linda thomas,
listing,
Mary Halpine,
memorabilia,
michelle winefiels,
Moe Howard,
montreal film house,
my-imac,
Nevada,
new york,
nichie auctions,
o-my-starz,
policy,
Prop,
Provenance,
R&R Auction,
remove,
Reno,
richard lower,
robert jiras,
sales and auctions,
Sands Hotel & Casino,
seller,
set designer,
sfss,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
Silver Screen Film Society Auction,
Simon Halpine,
Slone Arts and Auction Center,
Slone Brothers,
stonark,
terry omound,
todd richards,
topeka,
toycollies2,
trust & safety,
trust and safety,
t_hunter1995,
vintage,
Wardrobe,
william lestico,
william markham,
William Morris Agency,
william tuttle,
william tuttle studios,
wilson hawks auction,
world of hollywood 
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*.
Read more
Filed Under:
Market Watch,
stonark / *stoneark* / Corner Collectibles (Anthony Shkutnick)Tagged:
Allen Stuart Jeffries,
Angevin Rostad,
animal society free hospital,
anna hemkins,
anthony shkutnick,
apnj,
Atlantic City,
auction,
auction house,
authentic,
authenticity,
b1966,
cbs executive,
certificate of authenticity,
Clarmont Auctions,
coa,
corner collectibles,
Cornner Collectibles,
Costume,
Dave Ritz,
delete,
dooble auction house,
doris galehouse,
doumont auction,
ebay,
florida,
George Chebitar,
grauman's chinese theater,
guarantee,
historic,
Hollywood,
hollywood of fame,
imcrazyforlucy,
imdb,
Jeremy Slone,
joe king,
kieth dooble,
Las Vegas,
lighting technician,
Linda Clarmont,
linda thomas,
listing,
Mary Halpine,
memorabilia,
michelle winefiels,
Moe Howard,
montreal film house,
my-imac,
Nevada,
new york,
nichie auctions,
o-my-starz,
policy,
Prop,
Provenance,
R&R Auction,
remove,
Reno,
richard lower,
robert jiras,
sales and auctions,
Sands Hotel & Casino,
seller,
set designer,
sfss,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
Silver Screen Film Society Auction,
Simon Halpine,
Slone Arts and Auction Center,
Slone Brothers,
stonark,
terry omound,
todd richards,
topeka,
toycollies2,
trust & safety,
trust and safety,
t_hunter1995,
vintage,
Wardrobe,
william lestico,
william markham,
William Morris Agency,
william tuttle,
william tuttle studios,
wilson hawks auction,
world of hollywood 
eBay has published an “Important Security Announcement”, which equates to more “progress” and less transparency. The latest announced change will result in the privatization of bidders identities not only during bidding, but following the close of the auction. Read more
Rick Spector of Stairway to the Stars forwarded a link to an interesting article, given the discussion initiated in Part I of this series.
This is an interesting development in how it relates to certain auction house policies (see Odyssey Auctions Terms and Conditions in prior article). Read more
Filed Under:
Editorials and Features,
Featured ArticlesTagged:
auction house,
authentic,
authentication,
authenticity,
buyer,
certificate of authenticity,
chandelier bids,
collusive bidding,
Costume,
hobby,
legislation,
new york,
Original,
Prop,
Provenance,
sham bids,
shill bid,
shill bidding,
sotheby's,
studio,
Wardrobe I have had very limited experiences in buying direct from auction houses, but there are terms and conditions of sale, unique to each company/event, that can differ from other buying experiences. I would highly recommend that any collector, before participating in such an auction, carefully review the terms and conditions of the sale, typically outlined in the catalog. Even with the same company, these are prone to change catalog to catalog, sale to sale. Read more
Filed Under:
Editorials and Features,
Featured Articles,
Heritage Auction Galleries,
Movie Guns,
Profiles in History,
Stembridge CollectionTagged:
agreement,
attorney,
auction house,
authentic,
authentication,
authenticity,
buyer,
catalog,
certificate of authenticity,
contract,
Costume,
history,
hobby,
lawyer,
little john's auction service,
Original,
profiles in history,
Prop,
Provenance,
representations,
requirements,
research,
shill bidding,
stembridge,
studio,
Wardrobe,
warranty
