The practice of would-be buyers making fake bids for horses in European auctions has been going on for some time, with some instances going back 15 years or more, but I don’t recall the news being made public like this case.
Good on the Danes to shed some light on this fraudulent practice.
I’m very surprised that the auction houses don’t do more to protect themselves and their sellers, especially if this practice has been happening for a long time. Many many Thoroughbreds are sold at public auction each year, and in order to bid a buyer must have previously established credit. If someone declines to pay (which has occasionally happened) the auction houses immediately share the information. That person is then banned from making any future purchases until the situation has been remedied.
What’s puzzling is that the guy HAS liquid assets. If my research is correct (and it may not be 100% since I’m just noodling around with this and haven’t dug too deeply yet), he has an estimated net worth of $10-20M with liquid assets to the mid 6 figures. The house he lives in is valued at $1.5-1.9M. I believe that he does actually own it, but Los Angeles County doesn’t allow online access to real estate records or indexes. He clearly does have money since he’s paid late for these auction horses before, but I just don’t understand why he doesn’t have the money up front and pay as soon as the auction ends. And it appears that his wife is an attorney and an “R” dressage and western dressage judge. The late payment doesn’t reflect well on her, either. But maybe they really don’t care.
He’s a sponsor for Laura Graves?
She’s disavowed any connection to him.
Sounds like he has done this before and got away with it? Who knows what the business model is here. Maybe he bids on horses, then finds a buyer and only then actually pays for and ships the horses? Or bids on everything that catches his eye then only takes a few? The foals here are not that expensive, and presumably if he wanted them all he could pay for them all.
The article says he’s been doing this in the past at other auctions, so presumably he’s found a way to make this work for his business model, and up to now noone was upset enough to make him stop.
Maybe he also plays fluctuations in the exchange rate?
Yes, apparently there are some individuals who meet the “credit worthiness” requirements but that like to entertain themselves by bidding for items they have no intention of paying for. They like the thrill of the bidding war and the instantaneous recognition they get when they win. It’s self-aggrandizing behavior that borders on a personality disorder.
I think in the past, the auction houses banned the individual from bidding in future auctions. The German Verbands also in some instances passed the information to other Verband auction houses, so they could decide on what action to take. But as I mentioned, I don’t remember that they have outed the person to the general public until now.
And it is my understanding this person was trying to ingratiate himself with parties at the highest levels of U.S. dressage, which is what drove his behavior. Laura had only a single conversation with him, where he asked for advice on where to buy foals in Europe, and then mentioned sending horses to her for training. There was no contract or agreement between them, yet he proceeded to project himself in Europe as her sponsor and representative. She had to expend time and energy and money to deal with the situation.
I feel sorry for Laura to have been used in this manner, and also sorry for the breeders in Denmark who thought they had sold foals to one of the top riders in the world. I can’t imagine their disappointment - and anger - at being deceived in that manner.
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