SSTLR

By Elliot N. Fruchtman

ABSTRACT:
This book details Kenneth Walton’s involvement in fraudulent art auctions on eBay during the late 1990’s, which eventually led to his felony conviction and disbarment from the legal profession. Occurring during the early years of eBay, Walton and his associates used various tactics including “shill bidding,” deceptive descriptions, and forged paintings to defraud countless eBay buyers. Walton’s downfall occurred when he aroused the suspicions of the news media, the art world and the FBI by attempting to auction a thrift shop painting with the forged signature of Richard Diebenkorn.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kenneth Walton received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1997. Walton practiced law first as an associate at Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard and then later as a solo practitioner in Sacramento, California until he was disbarred following his felony conviction for wire fraud. Following his legal career, Walton established HammerTap, a software company which sold eBay computer applications. This is his first book.

NOTE: Footnotes in this abstract were omitted.