Mastro Auctions

[weams]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/yankees-owner-victim-mastro-auctions-shill-bidding-article-1.2514664

A 2012 indictment alleging massive shill bidding said Allen and Mastro sold a 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings trophy ball for $62,000 even though lab tests showed paint on the ball had not been manufactured until after World War II. Allen is also accused of selling hair from Elvis Presley even though he knew DNA tests had raised questions about its authenticity.

Mastro, meanwhile, acknowledged in court that he had altered the world's most expensive baseball card, the T206 Honus Wagner card once owned by NHL great Wayne Gretzky. As two Daily News reporters wrote in their book ?The Card,? the alteration increased the card's value significantly and helped spark the sports memorabilia boom of the 1990s even though trimming is an egregious violation of hobby practices. The Wagner currently belongs to Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick, who paid a record $2.8 million for it in 2007.