Branson MO Veterans Museum being auctioned off

[Public Informer]

To fellow posters: I have a list of public document about this Guy and his Museums that I'll be sharing in the next several days. The items that were in the Pigeon Forge Museum I personally helped remove when the museum closed, and many are missing now. He has new investors trying to save the Branson Museum, but One former investor to help start this museum helped him get a large loan, hundreds of thousands, at their bank , which He stopped making payment on. They were cosigners and were force to pay the loan! Another start up investor took a loan of hundreds of thousands and invested an additional 250 thousand, payments to him where stopped and he had to file bankruptcy, and lost his home. Another investor was given a lien on the 50 man sculpture for 980 thousand for his investment, the highest bid was only 125 thousand, looks like he lost all his money too. Another start-up investor owned most of the firearms in the museum, that's why they where not up for auction. I have UCC filings that show they were used as collateral at Conerstone Bank for the loans against the museum! Additional banks had the exhibits and 50 man sculpture pledged as collateral also, by additional UCC Records. Court records with Conerstone Bank and the museum owner show a lot of discrepancy by him. which I'll report next! The bottom line for now is, He used Veterans and our Fallen War Hero's to take money in his pocket for a high life style, and never paid the debts or bills. A disgrace to each veteran by his business practice.! A disgrace to those Core-Values each Service Person pledge to honor by their service! I had worked for this Guy until I figured out what he was doing. I've been threatened by him and his attorney with letters to sue me if I spoke to people about this! I've been falsely accused of thief of a computer of his, with law enforcement coming to my home. and not pressing charges when I showed them what was going on. Fellow Veterans need to speak-out about this type of scam and help honor our Fallen Hero's with that Code of Honor they died for! More info to be posted soon! Public Records Tell The Truth!

[doyler]

I saw someone bought a blue star window banner with two stars for $400?????? I've got a factory flag with 24 stars listed here I can't sell for $150! Some of the prices they show are crazy...I don't think those reflect the guyers premium either, which is something like 10 - 18%...

 

 

 

Mark sends

 

 

Similiar wacky prices were paid at an auction earlier this year when the they had that Pacific War Auction out east.Seemdthat anything that was touted from Iow went out of site.Maybe should haveconsigned my Iwo toporaphical invasion map made out of rubber.

[ajbUSWM]

Auctions can be odd..... I once saw two bidders going after silver bars until they ended up paying far more than spot market value.

[Public Informer]

Its funny I just sold some Iraqi items to Mr. Hoppe a few weeks ago. He has bought many items from me on e-Bay over the past ten years. He always pays promptly and generally leaves the type of feedback that is personalized and not just sent by a secretary. I also remember the museum in Pigeon Forge TN, it was loaded with repro stuff but did have some good items as well. I wondered what happened to the collection when it closed, but I guess it just moved to Branson. Kind of a mobile, one step ahead of the bill collector type thing. Scott

************Scott: I helped take a lot of those items out of the Pigeon Forge Museum when it became an antique mall! Some where up for sale on the Gary Hendershott Web site later, he sells military collectibles. Others were stored in buildings in Columbus Nebraska! I worked for Hoppe at the time. I was in the Pigeon Forge Museum when Hoppe was doing a self appraisal of the items on display. I have a copy of that appraisal used as collateral for the banks. Supposedly done by a F.Grant from ,The Canadian Military Studies Museum. He was not there during that appraisal, but the values were added to a few pages of a letter appraising a couple of German Uniforms for Hoppe! The type script doesn't even match from the first few pages to the rest of the Appraisal! Some of the items were exchanged for ones he took out of the Branson Museum! Just before the bank foreclosed! More Info to follow: Fake Appraisals For Bank Loans! Falsifying Values on Financial Statements! Have public records to show proof! , If some one what copies of these Public Records, post how to contact you! The Public Informer

[Bob Hudson]

Fake Appraisals For Bank Loans! Falsifying Values on Financial Statements! Have public records to show proof! , If some one what copies of these Public Records, post how to contact you! The Public Informer

 

It sounds like that $20 million estimate of the Branson museum's contents may have been based on the "appraisals" done for bank loans. That "appraiser" has an ebay store and appears to be perhaps selling off his museum's contents:

 

http://stores.ebay.com/Canadian-Military-Studies-Museum

 

[BROBS]

$265k!!!!! seems fair!

[USMC-RECON0321]

Wow,,, You would think if you actually owned General Maxwell Taylor's uniform and were selling it, you would have more than 8 pictures and a 14 word sentence for your entire description!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-Historic-Brigadier-Maxwell-Taylors-tunic-/221157251934

 

 

"As commanding the 17th airborne division (combined 82nd and 101 reg'ts) operation market garden."

[Public Informer]

 

It sounds like that $20 million estimate of the Branson museum's contents may have been based on the "appraisals" done for bank loans. That "appraiser" has an ebay store and appears to be perhaps selling off his museum's contents:

 

http://stores.ebay.com/Canadian-Military-Studies-Museum

 

canmus.jpg

Bob, check out the articles here, http://justgrace1776.hubpages.com/hub/Veterans-Memorial-Museum-collection-set-for-auction

On that article there are more http:s to click on to and read the series,. I'll Post more about the appraisals, and the P-51 that was up in the air in front of the museums. We can document every thing in those articles! This kind of fraud to veterans is a disgrace to the Military Core Values that each service personal pledged to up-hold. Read and pass it on! Public Informer

[ajbUSWM]

 

... but the guy who brought the loan in probably shouldn't expect a bonus this year.

 

Sounds like he is a perfect candidate for the Federal Reserve Chairmanship... where incompetence is rewarded with promotions.

 

Joking aside, it is sad to see museums in this position. They offer a great service to the communities.

[Bob Hudson]

Bob, check out the articles here, http://justgrace1776.hubpages.com/hub/Veterans-Memorial-Museum-collection-set-for-auction

On that article there are more http:s to click on to and read the series,. I'll Post more about the appraisals, and the P-51 that was up in the air in front of the museums. We can document every thing in those articles! This kind of fraud to veterans is a disgrace to the Military Core Values that each service personal pledged to up-hold. Read and pass it on! Public Informer

 

Thanks for that link: there's a lot of financial scamming involved in this.

[Public Informer]

Thanks for that link: there's a lot of financial scamming involved in this.

More info: The reporter who wrote the articles http://justgrace1776.hubpages.com/hub/Veterans-Memorial-Museum-collection-set-for-auction has had Google Analytics show that the articles has been viewed and read by several government sites from Missouri, Nebraska, and several times from Washington D.C. Along with a number of individuals in cities from a lot states! The Veterans Affairs should be contacted by a host of veterans to complain of using veterans for personal gain! This article has even been read by a .gov site in Guam! More hep is need to expose this scam. Public Informer

[Public Informer]

 

It sounds like that $20 million estimate of the Branson museum's contents may have been based on the "appraisals" done for bank loans. That "appraiser" has an ebay store and appears to be perhaps selling off his museum's contents:

 

http://stores.ebay.com/Canadian-Military-Studies-Museum

 

canmus.jpg

Both Museums had a P-51 Mustangs outside on a pole in front of each museum! Here is a quote form the appraisal: "This WW II fighter aircraft is an air frame only (minus it's power plant) and mounted on a pylon. I carried out a close visual inspection and found this item to be in excellent condition despite being an outside display. In reference to the actual value, I would like to refer to the sale publications for aircraft. An example would be 'Trade a Plane' which is in common circulation in the United States. War birds or combat fighter air craft in non-flying condition bring very high prices, especially where they are of this principle type. Another consideration is the value it holds as an attraction to the museum itself." The page with this description in the appraisal is signed by Frank F. Grant Director, dated December 5th 2000! This was used as late as 2006 or later, for loan values! The value in the appraisal was 500,000 per plane! They where never planing on a tornado in Branson. Mo. Photos of the broken plane on the web show that it was a fiber-glass copy with angle iron inside! Hoppe new they where not real, build by an Allen David. And what kind of a close visual inspection did Frank grant do? To miss such obvious errors! Their values where much less for the pair! So the appraisal was used to defraud the investors and banks for investment money and loans! This is looking like conspiracy to commit Fraud by both parties! Statutes for Bank Fraud last for 10 years! Not to mention international jurisdiction by what was done! This needs to be questioned by Veterans to keep this from continuing! Could use some help to get this to the proper authorities! ** Public Informer

[ScottG]

Why do you need help? Simply call the police, file a report, and let them investigate. I did this at the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan and the proper arrest was made and the perpetrator was charged and convicted of embezzlement. A million veterans complaining would get attention but it doesn't change the law. If you have evidence then nut up, turn it over to the authorities and for God's sake sign your name on the complaint! Its really that simple....Scott

[Bob Hudson]

Why do you need help? Simply call the police, file a report, and let them investigate. I did this at the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan and the proper arrest was made and the perpetrator was charged and convicted of embezzlement. A million veterans complaining would get attention but it doesn't change the law. If you have evidence then nut up, turn it over to the authorities and for God's sake sign your name on the complaint! Its really that simple....Scott

 

Because of the banks involvement, the trumped up appraisals, various lawsuits, etc. the police would look at this and declare "it's a civil matter" and decline to get involved. If it was just someone skimming the proceeds at one museum, it would be different, but if you scheme big enough it can transcend criminal law, unless perhaps the FBI gets involved in light of the multi-state operations.

 

As we have seen, the path of deception continued even into this month as some bidders apparently ended up buying bogus items from the museum.

[ScottG]

Regardless, the first step towards justice is the police. An investigation will only originate there and they would certainly determine proper jurisdiction. When we had the issue in Michigan the local police were notified. They then determined that since the crime happened on airport property, the county airport authority police had jurisdiction. From there everything progressed through to a conviction and partial recovery. It is a long process in the best of circumstances but from the beginning the police needed to be notified.

On a side note, I am a veteran and I suppose I could complain as the informer asks, but to who? National Service Organizations are not going to get involved unless there is a charge, and then you may get a press release statement. The VA certainly doesn't care about this type of thing, its out of their scope, the branches of service don't get involved in these things. As I said above Mr. Hoppe has always paid me for items he bought. So, who do we tell? Again, I think it would be the police.

The theft at Yankee included items that left the state and country, as well as weapons. I can assure you that the FBI and ATF never got involved. These were items that were clearly documented and traced through active witnesses, e-Bay/Paypal records, and solid evidence. I maintain that the only way for anything to get done is for the witness to file a complaint and present the evidence. Remember the saying "the only thing needed for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing." Seems rather appropriate here. Scott

[Public Informer]

 

Because of the banks involvement, the trumped up appraisals, various lawsuits, etc. the police would look at this and declare "it's a civil matter" and decline to get involved. If it was just someone skimming the proceeds at one museum, it would be different, but if you scheme big enough it can transcend criminal law, unless perhaps the FBI gets involved in light of the multi-state operations.

 

As we have seen, the path of deception continued even into this month as some bidders apparently ended up buying bogus items from the museum.

Thanks Scott & Bob for your comments! This has been shown to local authorities, and was told " it's a civil matter" and a complaint needs to be filed by someone who has financial interest in this! But since the auction has shown a real value compared to the appraised, we will try again. But veterans voicing their opinion and outrage would help a lot! I thank you for your support and interest to comment on this, and to share what is going on with fellow veterans by you, could make a difference! I'll post a few more fact of information in the next couple of days to help tie this together for everyone reading about this. Hope to have some attached files of public records posted after the holiday! I need to find someone to help scan and post files. Thanks, Public Informer

[ScottG]

Glad you went to the police, perhaps your evidence would help the banks and the investors with their cases? Scott

[MAW]

So...it's obvious that there were bad business decisions made by various people/or companies.....but other than that, what do you consider the main point to be?

 

It seems like a complicated web to me.......good intentions perhaps.......perhaps not........maybe a mixture.

 

BUT....be careful about the "profiting off of veterans" motive and considering that criminal activity. I know what your intended meaning is, but whithin the realm of politics and law, that could easily balloon out to have a much broader meaning that affects everyone......much like the infamous Stolen Valor Act did.

 

Also.....inflating appraisal values is an interesting component. Heck....our government did that with the housing market, and they make the rules. Not without consequences, of course. And....on shows like "Antiques Roadshow" they often tell people an insurance value and a market value.....

 

I am not saying this is justification for what happened to the museum....I just think this is an interesting topic.

[USMC-RECON0321]

It sounds like this will take a lot of leg work and possibly a law firm putting together a class action suite. Most likely coming down to the individual contracts. Including contracts between those who donated or loaned items to the museum, did work for the museum, I.E. the sculptures / monument, etc.. vs the proprietor of the museum. An in-depth civil investigation could possibly lead into a criminal investigation for the fraud accusations being made.

 

Troy

[Ozarkian]

I went there years ago. They had a lot of weapons and a few military motorcycles. It is a nice museum but it seems like the management was a mess.

[Shenkursk]

There have been a string of situations lately involving museums, cities, banks, etc. where the accuracy of appraisals and / or item identification for originality has been a problem, eventually resulting in disappointment to the tune of hundreds of thousands all the way up to multi-millions of dollars.

 

Without creating any legal exposure for ourselves here by taking sides in a debate that best belongs in a courtroom, we can at least take one important lesson away from this.

 

So many of us put "appraisals" on our business cards, without frankly having much of a clue about how serious that can be when the pushing and shoving starts. When asked to do an appraisal, we must bear in mind that the final product needs to be something that could be easily defended in court, as (presumably) others will be making very serious decisions based on the appraiser's perceived expertise.

 

MAW makes an excellent point as well; if what Public Informer says happened did indeed go down the way that he is indicating, then there is plenty of room to handle this within the existing legal framework. Beating the 'profiting from the honor of the veterans' drum is easy, but collectors might easily find themselves trampled under the feet of those dancing to that particular tune.

[Bob Hudson]

Since this is not the place to adjudicate this matter, we are going to close this thread to further comment since there has already been more than enough information posted to show that this was a train wreck. Whether it was bad business or bad intentions is for others to decide.