Not that it matters, but here is the update

[don wheeler]

Home > Daily News > Story

Update: Diebenkorn Painting Investigation
by Ed Ritchie
August 14, 2000, 3 p.m. PT

New evidence is coming to light in the FBI probe into alleged
shilling by Ken Walton on
eBay, the seller who made headlines when he posted a painting
purchased at a garage
sale that soared to $135,805 because bidders thought it was
the work of California abstract
artist Richard Diebenkorn.

According to KXTV News, in Sacramento, California, an artist
has testified before a grand
jury that Walton hired him to paint two abstract paintings.
The report did not identify
whether the Diebenkorn style painting was part of the
commission.

Kevin Carey told KXTV that he answered a classified ad placed
by Walton and produced
two abstract paintings. Carey noted that Walton insisted that
the paintings be delivered
unsigned.

The FBI would not confirm the report because the government is
precluded from
commenting by grand jury secrecy requirements. But FBI
spokesperson Nick Rossi told
AW that the witnesses themselves are free to discuss their
testimony if they choose to.

Carey's testimony would further discredit Walton's original
story and raise questions about
his intentions regarding a number of his art auctions on eBay.
In Walton's auction of the
Diebenkorn look-alike he said, "I got this big abstract art
painting at a garage sale in
Berkeley, California a LOOONG time ago, back in my bachelor
days, and then I got
married, and my wife has never let me keep it in the house."

When investigations revealed that Walton had sold 33 paintings
under various names on
eBay, he told the New York Times that the description was "…a
cute spin on why I am
selling all of the junk. I spend my time on weekends going
around to estate sales and
buying paintings. I can find these paintings for $20 to $30 a
pop and put them up on eBay
and get $300." Further investigations by eBay revealed that
Walton made a $4,500 shill bid
on his auction by using another identity.

Although eBay cancelled the auction and saved Rob Keereweer of
Houten in the
Netherlands $135,000, not all of Walton's victims have been so
lucky. Kevin Moran told
AW that he too had been a victim of Walton and lost $30,000 on
a bogus painting. "I called
the Sacramento branch of the FBI about this late Friday, but
am awaiting a return call," he
said. "They may be interested in what I have to say."

While gathering information on Walton, Moran discovered that
Walton still had an active
username "fouroneone" on eBay. "I found this out accidentally
back in late June when I
was perusing my feedback on eBay and found the comment he left
me was now under a
new, different, and still active name. I wrote eBay about it
and they promptly unregistered
him," he said.

The ID was established before the shilling episode was
spotted, according to Kevin
Pursglove, eBay's VP of communications. "eBay closed down the
account after the
incident," he said.