Want a piece of Allen Stanford's legacy? Auction house puts estate items on sale
Published: October 5, 2012
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Photos by SETH WORRELL AUCTION COMPANY An engraved ring and a diamond pendant are among the items for sale at Seth Worrell Auction Company in Houston.
Luxury items mixed with household appliances, guns and home decor from Allen Stanford's St. Croix estate will go on the auction block in Texas on Saturday.
The disgraced former financier, convicted in Texas in March of orchestrating a massive investment fraud scheme, currently is serving a 110-year term in federal prison.
Most of the items being sold at the auction Saturday are Stanford's personal assets from his estate on St. Croix, said Seth Worstell, owner and auctioneer at Seth Worstell Auction Company in Houston, where the auction will take place.
The auction has generated significant interest - possibly heightened by Stanford's notoriety, according to Worstell.
"There's just a lot of neat stuff. This is a good auction, obviously," he said. "But I don't think it would be quite as big a deal without Stanford's name all over it."
The proceeds from the auction will go to the court-appointed receiver in the case, Worstell said.
Nestled among the luxury items to be sold on Saturday are a Chihuly chandelier; two antique Steinway grand pianos, one from 1912 and the other from 1891; handcrafted furniture; a 1.75 carat Tiffany diamond necklace; Wedgewood china; a one-of-a-kind Mouratidis mink coat; and a Rolex Submariner watch.
But the luxury items don't begin to encompass everything that will be sold on Saturday to the highest bidder.
Items to go on the auction block run the gamut from some of Stanford's suits and clothing to home decor items, sports memorabilia, kitchenware, commercial appliances, furniture, jewelry and guns.
All of the Stanford estate assets take up well over half of Worstell's 20,000-square foot warehouse.
"There's kind of a sprinkling of everything," Worstell said.
Everything, as it turns out, includes Stanford's gold 20Twenty Cricket ring and a massive ammonite fossil that is 21 to 22 inches in diameter, which the auctioneer described as perhaps the oddest thing he's come across.
"We have a lot of really neat and unique items, but I've never sold a fossil like that before," Worstell said.
Because it is a court-ordered auction, there is no minimum bid and no reserve - and everything must sell on Saturday, he said.
The catch is, it's a live auction, so interested parties have to be at the auction house in Houston to bid. Worstell does not plan to accept telephone bids, with one possible exception.
Worstell may consider taking telephone bids for the fossil only, he said.
"Everything has to sell, so we like to keep it live, with a cash deposit required," Worstell said.
He hesitated to estimate how much money the auction could draw.
"It's fairly easy to say that we're well up into the six figures, but again, it's really hard to answer," Worstell said.
The preview of the items is today at the auction house in Houston, and the auction is set to start at 10 a.m. Saturday.
However, if you can't make it to Houston and would like to get a virtual look at some of the items for sale, go to Worstell's website at www.houstonauctionsales.com.
- Contact Joy Blackburn at 714-9145 or email jblackburn@dailynews.vi.
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