Cleveland attorney, Joe Esmont, was quoted in an article posted on Ohio.com on October 16, 2010.
The story details the auction of artwork collected by Fair Finance co-owner Timothy Durham that raised more than $400,000.
According to article, big money was spent by an anonymous Bidder 78, who spent more than $267,000 via telephone bids on works by artist Peter Max, prints by Picasso and other pieces. Proceeds from the auction will go into the estate of Fair Finance for eventual distribution to thousands of creditors of the Akron, Ohio, company now in bankruptcy. The amount exceeded expectations and is a drop in the bucket compared with the more than $200 million lost by an estimated 5,300 Ohio investors.
Joseph Esmont, a Cleveland lawyer at Baker Hostetler who works alongside Fair Finance trustee Brian Bash, said, “Overall, we’re very pleasantly surprised. We didn’t expect to match the value of the insurance valuation. We’re happy with the bids. I didn’t expect the Peter Max pieces to catch as much fire as they did.”
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