ELGIN, Ill. (STMW) – Call him, perhaps, Mini-Madoff.
Not unlike Bernie Madoff — the infamous former New York investment adviser now serving time in a federal penitentiary for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme — Jason Hyatt of west suburban St. Charles was charged in June 2008 with 11 counts of wire and tax fraud after bilking investors in his company, Hyatt Johnson Capital.
Like Madoff, Hyatt pleaded guilty to some of the charges against him. And while Hyatt is still awaiting a March sentencing hearing, he will, like Madoff, see his allegedly ill-gotten gains auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Elgin’s Bunte Auction Services Inc. will hold an auction Saturday and Sunday that includes property seized from Hyatt’s homes in St. Charles and Michigan City, Ind.
Among the items set for auction are player pianos, cars, electronics, art, antique furniture and phonographs.
Employees from Bunte helped clear out Hyatt’s St. Charles home in 2008, said Kevin Bunte, president of the Elgin auction house, and held it in storage for a receivership working with the U.S. government.
Then, about six months ago, Bunte was called in to clear out the Michigan City house, too.
This isn’t the first time that Bunte’s, or its predecessor, Dunning’s Auctions, has held an auction of items seized as part of a criminal case. It is one of the most unusual.
“There are phonographs and a player piano collection,” Bunte said.
Those phonographs include antique Victor Victrolas. The pianos are 5 feet high, he said, and the next owner doesn’t even need know how to play piano, since they play themselves.
Bunte called the dozens of art pieces “unique.”
“He (Hyatt) had very contemporary taste,” he said. “He spent a lot of money on them, buying them at galleries.”
Because the artists are relatively unknowns, it is also difficult to put an auction value on them, Bunte said. There have not been enough of the pieces auctioned previously to compare them to, meaning Bunte’s might set a standard this coming weekend.
Hyatt also had a large collection of Oriental art including a water buffalo, urns and 40-inch tall Chinese warriors. “After that, there is a lot of furniture, sofas, chairs, ottomans — high-quality stuff from the two houses,” Bunte said.
Interest in the auction might be high not only due to the quality of the art and collectibles, but also because of the charges against its former owner. Hyatt is accused of defrauding investors out of about $1.6 million.
According to the indictment, from the spring of 2006 through February 2007, Hyatt offered investments in a pair of limited-liability companies and intended to divert those investments via wire transfers into his personal accounts.
Once the court-appointed receiver and Bunte’s receives their shares, the remainder of the funds raised by the auction likely will help pay back some of those who were defrauded, Bunte said.
The entire collection, including items not part of the seized property, will be available to view from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, and before the auctions on Saturday and Sunday.
More information at www.bunteauction.com
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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