Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – The ads appeared on the front page of two local newspapers, and made it seem like items from Bernie Madoff's estate would be auctioned off right here in central New York. However, an auction manager could not point out a single thing ever owned by Madoff, or anyone who knew him.
The ads were on the front page of both the Syracuse New Times and the Syracuse Post-Standard over the weekend.
At first glance, it looked like the items advertised for auction were Bernie Madoff's. However, when you read the fine print, it claims the items are being offered by the victims of the ponzi scheme to recoup losses. So what's the Real deal?
Madoff’s name is getting thrown around quite a bit to get people in the door.
“If it's got Bernie Madoff's name on it, it's like Gucci or Versace, they want it,” said John Schmidt, the manager of Southern Star Auctioneers. However, none of the merchandise came directly from the conman himself.
When questioned about how many Madoff-related items were available, Schmidt couldn’t provide an answer “I don't know because we've already done two auctions before we came here, so I don't know which items from Bernie Madoff sold, I don't know how much inventory from his stock we still have left,” Schmidt said.
When Schmidt was asked specifically if he could point to a single Bernie Madoff-related item in the room at all, he could not.
Schmidt said his auction company had paperwork available back at their offices in Atlanta that allowed them to make the claim.
The auction manager wouldn't allow our camera inside but did allow our reporter to walk around. There were no signs identifying any Madoff items and no references made by the auctioneer to Madoff at all.
The newspaper advertisements also talked about merchandise belonging to Madoff's victims, and how auction sales would help recoup some of their losses.
However, once again, Schmidt could not say whether any of those items made it to this auction or whether the company was offering any higher compensation than a normal person would get for allowing their items to be auctioned off “I really don't know, that's between the owner of the company and the victim,” Schmidt said.
So what did customers think about the marketing strategy?
Lester Ford is a collector who saw the ad, and traveled from Westchester County to attend the auction . He went to the authentic Madoff auction held by the U.S. Marshall's last week and came home empty handed. “It was just chaos.”
Ford said he made out much better here in Syracuse, even if the link to Madoff is much more questionable. “I really don't mind. A lot of the artwork they have is really wonderful,” Ford said.
Moments after NewsChannel 9 walked out of the auction, investigators from the Attorney General's office were walking in. They said they haven't received complaints about the company yet, but after our calls, wanted to make sure the auction itself was on the up and up.
The Attorney General’s office said they're also taking a closer look at the ads.
Southern Star Auctioneers normally holds a few auctions a year in Syracuse. This is the first time they've used the Madoff name to advertise.
Bernie Madoff Auction in Syracuse? The Real Deal
November 18, 2009
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - You may have started seeing ads for a "Bernie Madoff" auction happening Monday in Syracuse. The ads are confusing to say the least, with one part bragging about items "duly instructed by millionaire's estate", then the small print pointing out "items available for auction did not belong to Bernie Madoff".
So what's the real deal? We asked Southern Star Auctioneers about their planned stop at Oncenter. "We're not trying to advertise something that's false, we're not trying to, I guess skew people the wrong way about it,” John Schmidt of Southern Star Auctioneers said. “The reason it’s advertised as a Bernie Madoff Auction is because there are Bernie Madoff items there, not every single item is a Bernie Madoff item.”
Actually, Schmidt says 70% or more of the auction items will have no connection to Madoff. He does say there are 20 or more items of Madoff’s likely for the auction, but that's not even a guarantee. "We have two auctions before we even get to Syracuse so the potential of things being there and not being there is pretty big." Schmidt says.
Many of Madoff's possessions, some very high priced, have already been auctioned off for the US Marshall’s office to raise money for his victims. So are Madoff victims getting anything from Monday's proceeds in Syracuse? Well, in a sense. According to Schmidt, some Madoff victims have put their goods up for bid and will get their agreed to percentage of the proceeds.
We checked with the New York State Attorney General's Office about this auction. We haven't heard back from them, but we'll keep you posted.
