Nation - Maryland Sept. 11 statue listed on eBay Proceeds will benefit defrauded investors

By David Dishneau Associated Press Writer HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A 40-foot sculpture in rural Maryland of three New York City firefighters raising the U.S. flag at ground zero is being offered on eBay, but there's a catch: You can't take it home. Bidding on the towering tribute to heroes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will start Wednesday and end May 22, said Pat Huddleston, a Marietta, Ga., attorney who is the court-appointed receiver in an investment fraud case involving the sculpture. The auction will start at $500,000, he said. Huddleston said proceeds from the Internet auction will benefit defrauded investors. The buyer will be recognized on a plaque as having donated the statue to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a congressionally chartered nonprofit in Emmitsburg that memorializes fire heroes and offers counseling and scholarships to their families. "It's a disgrace that such a symbolic memorial, which represents the best of America, is caught in the middle of a corporate scandal," Huddleston said. Huddleston turned to eBay after trying for more than two years to sell the bronze-and-steel statue for at least $425,000. The highest offer he got was $10,000. Sculptor Stanley J. Watts of Kearns, Utah, valued the piece in 2006 at $4.8 million. The piece was commissioned by Coadum Advisors Inc., which the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in 2008 fraudulently raised $30 million from more than 150 investors in a Ponzi scheme. The SEC says Coadum paid Watts $300,000 to sculpt the piece and then donated it to the Fallen Firefighters as a tax dodge. In January, a federal judge in Atlanta ordered Coadum principals James A. Jeffery and Thomas A. Repke to pay restitution and fines totaling $8.2 million. They didn't acknowledge guilt in their settlement deal. Fallen Firefighters Executive Director Ronald J. Siarnicki wondered if anyone will bid. He said all the foundation's corporate backers have refused to contribute dollars that would benefit defrauded investors, not fire heroes' families. Published: Tue, May 11, 2010

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