Mastro Auctions: Looking for Former Employees

[Dewey29]

I would like to start with a full disclosure by stating that I joined this board today with the sole purpose of posting a response to comments in this thread. I have known Mark personally and professionally for more than 30 years and I had a couple purchases with Mastro but don’t believe I was defrauded in any way. I also happily wrote a letter to the judge prior to Mark’s sentencing. My letter in short said Mark is not a bad person. He is a good person that made a bad decision (or decisions). I will follow up on that in a moment.

The first question that I must ask the board is how many of you actually read the full court documents including the sentencing hearing? I’m not calling anyone out, just asking as I imagine some (not all) posting on here have not. Reading those documents can make you very happy you’re not an attorney, but without reading them you may not have all the facts.

There was a poster on this thread that raised the issue of hiring Mark and compared him to Bill Mastro. That is like comparing apples and oranges as evidenced by the U. S. Attorney Zachary Fardon who admitted Mark was largely following the orders of his bosses rather than orchestrating the scheme. He said Mark “opted to take a hands-on role to promote shill bidding, rather than demand change or at least leave the company and find a new position.”

Before anyone reacts, Mark was guilty of committng a crime. He confessed to that and there is no disputing that. However, there is a major difference between being the head of an organization that comes up with a scheme to defraud and a subordinate that is following orders/instructions. Certainly still illegal, but very very different IMO.

For anyone that believes Mark made a fortune through this crime, I have attached a link below to an article which states “from 2002 to 2008, Theotikos worked for Mastro, where he participated in auction operations at a salary of about $100,000 per year.” Now $100k is a solid salary, but how many of you would go through what he has for a $100k salary for 6 years? The reality here is Mark was put in a bad spot by Mr. Mastro and/or Mr. Allen. Mark should have made the decision to leave the company and find new employment. He chose to stay and through that decision committed a crime for which he has paid severely (and everyone on here is entitled to their own opinion on the severity).

For anyone that feels like he hasn't been punished enough let me pose a question. How many of you would be willing to up and quit your job if your current boss asked you to do something you thought was illegal or immoral? It’s easy to cast stones, but when you’re in that situation and the sole earner while raising a family it’s not an easy decision. Some may say, he should have gone to another auction house. That’s a fair statement. How many other auction houses are there in Chicago? I don’t believe there are any. So let me ask the question again in a different way. How many of you would quit your job and relocate your entire family to another state because you thought what your boss was asking you to do was illegal or immoral? If you’re boss is telling you to do you’re not the bad guy right? Besides if you speak up and criticize your boss your the troublemake that isn’t a team player. That will really help you with getting your next job. Right? It’s a very very tough thing to do and I would bet if people are being honest with themselves, most would stay and begrudgingly do what they were asked to do.

To recap, Mark did commit a crime and was convicted of that crime. He has served his sentence and paid a steep price for his actions. I’m not making any excuses for him. However, I stand by my letter to the judge. Mark is a good man that made a bad decision. Anyone that thinks Mark would ever make the same mistake again has simply never met Mark.

Thanks for allowing me to post here and I hope I didn’t offend too many people as that’s not my intent. Those that have been wronged by Mastronet are certainly well within their rights to be upset. Having good knowledge of what really transpired leads me to believe their anger may be misplaced which is why I wanted to make this post.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...yee-sentenced/

[Stonepony]

Well just a couple comments to the above post.
1) The " good guy who made bad decisions" and " just following orders " arguments hold NO water with me with regard to guilt.
2) If my boss asked me to do something illegal or immoral- hell
yes I would move on
3) I have made my share of bad decisions/ choices during my lifetime.

[irv]

You make some valid points, and it's too bad he was in the position/career he was in, but that does not dissolve what he knowingly did.

He paid the price for his decision not to out them, which, I'm sure, if he had to do it all over again, he would, but sometimes we have to do the right things from the get go, especially if one is smart enough to reasonably know or recognize, that what they were doing would one day all come crashing down on them.



v=1EQQYeRAT3ohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EQQYeRAT3o

[timn1]

Sorry, this is well-intentioned BS. I can easily imagine that Mark found himself in an unpleasant dilemma when Mastro and Allen asked him to facilitate the shilling. But you have already acknowledged that he made the wrong decision. The rest is irrelevant to the main point people are making in this thread. If people here were arguing that Mark should be locked up for life, you would have a valid point. He did his time and should be allowed to pick up his life and move on - BUT NOT HANDED A PLUM JOB IN THE SAME INDUSTRY/HOBBY HE HELPED TO DEFRAUD.

IMO, that is the only point that matters. Let him be hired in any other field, and I am fine with that. But to quote Marsellus Wallace, to me he has "lost his BB card privileges."

[Jenx34]

Originally Posted by timn1

Sorry, this is well-intentioned BS. I can easily imagine that Mark found himself in an unpleasant dilemma when Mastro and Allen asked him to facilitate the shilling. But you have already acknowledged that he made the wrong decision. The rest is irrelevant to the main point people are making in this thread. If people here were arguing that Mark should be locked up for life, you would have a valid point. He did his time and should be allowed to pick up his life and move on - BUT NOT HANDED A PLUM JOB IN THE SAME INDUSTRY/HOBBY HE HELPED TO DEFRAUD.

IMO, that is the only point that matters. Let him be hired in any other field, and I am fine with that. But to quote Marsellus Wallace, to me he has "lost his BB card privileges."

I agree and you beat me to it. As I was reading the post, that's all I could think about. NONE of the rest matters at this point except the argument/discussion of whether he should be employed in the collectibles auction business. My opinion is no. That doesn't mean he can't work elsewhere.

[Mdmtx]

I am confused. The attached picture is from the Heritage terms and conditions, which every bidder has agreed to. Can someone explain the difference in this and the illegal shill bids of mastro? Is it merely the location? Or is there an inherent difference in the 2?

Mark Medlin

[egbeachley]

Start with bidding with the intent to win and having to pay for the item if you do win vs bidding with the knowledge you won’t end up winning but can raise the price.

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by Mdmtx

I am confused. The attached picture is from the Heritage terms and conditions, which every bidder has agreed to. Can someone explain the difference in this and the illegal shill bids of mastro? Is it merely the location? Or is there an inherent difference in the 2?

Mark Medlin

In Texas, its legal for an auction house and its employees to bid on the items in their auction. Crazy but true. I've asked before.... if they win the item do they pay a 20% buyers premium... to themselves?

[Fred]

Holy crap.... this is for real. It's in the 12 page PDF (terms and conditions of auction) that is buried on the website. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. Perhaps a new thread needs to be opened on this topic.

I'm trying to figure out what a reasonable explanation could be but I can't.


21. The Auctioneer, its affiliates, or their employees consign items to be sold in the Auction, and may bid on those lots or any other lots. Auctioneer or affiliates expressly reserve the right to modify any such bids at any time prior to the hammer based upon data made known to the Auctioneer or its affiliates. The Auctioneer may extend advances, guarantees, or loans to certain consignors.

What does that mean? "Auctioneer or affiliates expressly reserve the right to modify any such bids at any time prior to the hammer based upon data made known to the Auctioneer or its affiliates.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Dewey29

Before anyone reacts, Mark was guilty of committng a crime. He confessed to that and there is no disputing that. However, there is a major difference between being the head of an organization that comes up with a scheme to defraud and a subordinate that is following orders/instructions. Certainly still illegal, but very very different IMO.

The Nuremberg Defense. Awesome.

There's also a big difference between "making a mistake" and doing the same illegal behavior over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...you get the point.

It's an absolute joke he got another job with an auction house and an even bigger joke that people on here are defending that.

[mantlefan]

Originally Posted by Tabe

The Nuremberg Defense. Awesome.

There's also a big difference between "making a mistake" and doing the same illegal behavior over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...you get the point.

It's an absolute joke he got another job with an auction house and an even bigger joke that people on here are defending that.

Ya know when I first started practicing medicine I had very few patients and I earned money to pay all the bills by filling various posts. I did endoscopy procedures on Fridays for a Community Health Center. I was the Chief Medical Officer of the Floral-Park Bellerose Schools. As such I had to attend all the Varsity games. One year, in a playoff game, the team's best player injured his knee. The kid and the coach wanted to keep playing. I took him out of the game. The irate coach told me to play the kid or he'd make sure I wasn't back the next School year. I took the player to the locker room and iced his knee.....I wasn't re-hired.

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by mantlefan

Ya know when I first started practicing medicine I had very few patients and I earned money to pay all the bills by filling various posts. I did endoscopy procedures on Fridays for a Community Health Center. I was the Chief Medical Officer of the Floral-Park Bellerose Schools. As such I had to attend all the Varsity games. One year, in a playoff game, the team's best player injured his knee. The kid and the coach wanted to keep playing. I took him out of the game. The irate coach told me to play the kid or he'd make sure I wasn't back the next School year. I took the player to the locker room and iced his knee.....I wasn't re-hired.

The path of integrity is often not the easiest to follow, but always the right one.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mantlefan

Ya know when I first started practicing medicine I had very few patients and I earned money to pay all the bills by filling various posts. I did endoscopy procedures on Fridays for a Community Health Center. I was the Chief Medical Officer of the Floral-Park Bellerose Schools. As such I had to attend all the Varsity games. One year, in a playoff game, the team's best player injured his knee. The kid and the coach wanted to keep playing. I took him out of the game. The irate coach told me to play the kid or he'd make sure I wasn't back the next School year. I took the player to the locker room and iced his knee.....I wasn't re-hired.

You would have done well as an NFL team doctor.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by mantlefan

Ya know when I first started practicing medicine I had very few patients and I earned money to pay all the bills by filling various posts. I did endoscopy procedures on Fridays for a Community Health Center. I was the Chief Medical Officer of the Floral-Park Bellerose Schools. As such I had to attend all the Varsity games. One year, in a playoff game, the team's best player injured his knee. The kid and the coach wanted to keep playing. I took him out of the game. The irate coach told me to play the kid or he'd make sure I wasn't back the next School year. I took the player to the locker room and iced his knee.....I wasn't re-hired.

I have been in a position where, like you, I was pressured to do something that violated my integrity in the course of my professional duties. Refusing could potentially cost me my job. I refused. It's not always easy to do the right thing but it IS always the right thing to do the right thing.