R.L. Wilson?????
Can someone please tell me about R.L. Wilson and the trouble that he has gotten himself into lately. I was down at the auction house that I regular arounh here, and the guys that work there told me only a bit of what was going on. Made me sick!!!!![V] [:(!]
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Plain and simple... he is a GREEDY, lower than a snake's belly, a real pond scum sucking CROOK![:(!], and he got caught![^] He has been involved in so many shady and outright illegal gun deals, that it is a wonder somebody hasn't hung him out back from a tall tree. Fortunately, his dealing days are numbered, and maybe is freedom is going to be shortlived too. He is one of those "rotten apple" type people that give the rest of the Antique gun collecting community a VERY bad image.
As a side note, this topic should be on the General Dicussion forum
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
Thaks Bert, I'll make sure I post similiar posts over there. There were a few nice 1885's at Little Johns. Are you going to the Costa Mesa Gun Show tomorrow.
I hope R.L. Wilson Moves to Rikers Island and meets the biggest meanest and loneliest cell mate they have... [;)]0 -
Sorry to hear he was involved in crooked deals. He published some great reference books but then so did Kopec who gave me a solid screwing. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by swiftyswede
Thaks Bert, I'll make sure I post similiar posts over there. There were a few nice 1885's at Little Johns. Are you going to the Costa Mesa Gun Show tomorrow.
I hope R.L. Wilson Moves to Rikers Island and meets the biggest meanest and loneliest cell mate they have... [;)]
Hello Steve,
Actually, I was planning to stop in at Little John's tomorrow for a few hours (around noon time). I was in his shop last week, and all I saw in the way of Model 1885s was a couple of Winder Muskets. I was not planning to go to the Costa Mesa show (to much garbage and non-firearm realated crap to wade through).
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
Bert,
The Costa Mesa show was a complete waste of time. Everyone that had anything decent thaught it is made of solid gold. And usually noone has anything worth picking up. There was one nice old guy with decent prices on old ammo but that was all, I got some henry ammo from him. Someone was asking 1,300 for a beat up civilian winchester 97, couldn't believe it, 7,500 for a fair 1903 A4...? What has happened to gun shows anymore? I'll be sticking to auctions.0 -
I'd also like an answer to the original question if anyone knows it. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by v35
I'd also like an answer to the original question if anyone knows it.
V35... the following is a C&P -
Visions of a Museum Part a Rich Man from His Money
by David Hewett
On May 22 the Frazier Historical Arms Museum will open in Louisville, Kentucky. The museum, in collaboration with the Royal Armouries of Great Britain, claims to contain one of the greatest collections of arms, armor, and related historical artifacts in the world.
The sparkling new museum is the result of $32 million poured into a historic downtown Louisville four-story brick building by the museum's founder, retired Louisville businessman and philanthropist Owsley Brown Frazier.
Some exhibits have exceptional American historical interest. The museum's Web site boasts: "At no other museum in the world will you find the ceremonial sword of Founding Father Josiah Bartlett, the family bible of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone, the `Big Stick' of President Theodore Roosevelt, the bow attributed to the great Apache warrior Geronimo, or the ivory-handled Colt pistols of General George Armstrong Custer."
There is a more recent acquisition: a flintlock rifle once owned by George Washington, added just weeks before the opening. That rifle represents the only long gun owned by America's first president known to exist, according to Walter Karcheski, the museum's chief curator of arms and armor. It was purchased privately.
There may be a problem with some of those claims of historical association, though.
A 49-page suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville, case number 3:04-CV-124-H, filed on February 27, pits Frazier and the museum's foundation against several of those from whom the museum purchased those weapons and other specimens.
Those named in the suit are Michael K. Salisbury, Karen Cruse (a.k.a. Karen Salisbury), John Jones, Belinda Jones, Collectable Arms International, Inc., and Robert L. Wilson.
It takes a lot of money to put a museum together in four years, and Owsley Brown Frazier is an extremely wealthy man. Since 1983 he has been a director of the Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BFB). He formerly was the vice chairman of the board. He is also one of the directors of Papa John's Pizza (NASDAQ: PZZA).
The Brown-Forman Corporation of Louisville, founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown, has 7600 employees. It produces, imports, and bottles a number of alcoholic beverages. Its domestic and imported lines include Jack Daniel's, Old Forester, Early Times, Finlandia vodka, Korbel California champagnes, Bolla Italian wines, and Southern Comfort. It also sells china tableware, crystal glassware, and stainless and silver-plated flatware under the Lenox and Gorham brands, Dansk housewares, and Hartmann luggage.
Owsley Brown Frazier, as an insider, has reported to the SEC that he sold 17,000 BFB shares in the last six months, and in the quarter prior to that sold 501,000 shares (per Edgar Online as of May 6).
Brown-Forman Corporation has been a good stock to own during that period. It executed a two-for-one stock split on January 5, went from $37.55 to $50 over the last 12 months, and was selling at around $47 on the day this was written.
The corporation has already contributed to the community. Brown-Forman Corporation was one of the initial investors in the University of Louisville's College of Business and Public Administration, providing $750,000 for an endowed chair in marketing in the early 1980's.
In 1999 Owsley Brown Frazier announced that the company would support the college's growth with a $1 million gift to endow a chair in entrepreneurship that will be matched with state funds to create a $2 million endowment for the chair.
In the lawsuit, Frazier and the museum foundation allege that the named sellers "conspired to inflate significantly the value of the items purchased...." They allege that the named parties "made misrepresentations as to alleged purchase price, authenticity, and the provenance of firearms acquired from them."
Frazier and the museum foundation claim that they were betrayed by insiders. They note that the foundation hired Salisbury to serve as president at a $100,000 salary (later raised to $125,000), and that John Jones served on an advisory board and Wilson served as a director of the foundation.
Frazier and the foundation allege that in late 2002 they learned of the "wrongdoing," and Salisbury resigned. In 2003, the suit states, "Wilson admitted that Salisbury had inflated the prices listed on appraisals given to the Foundation and Mr. Frazier with the knowledge of John Jones."
On January 12, 2001, Wilson filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut. On April 13, 2004, the Joneses and their corporation, Collectable Arms International, Inc., filed for bankruptcy in Virginia.
Frazier and the foundation allege that Salisbury represented that a pair of revolvers "purportedly presented to General Custer was worth at least $300,000." Frazier paid the $300,000, but he now alleges that "this representation was false."
The suit claims that other allegations were also "false," including that a "Winchester Model 1866 Saddle Ring Carbine inscribed to W.F. `Buffalo Bill' Cody was worth at least $285,000"; that "the Holland & Holland Ltd. Royal Grade Double-Barrel Sporting Rifle" owned by President Theodore Roosevelt and known as the "Big Stick" was worth at least $900,000; and that the "Geronimo Collection" of a bow, arrows, and quiver belong to Chief Geronimo was worth at least $300,000.
Other allegations state that Salisbury said a Winchester Model 1866 gold-plated Nimschke-engraved rifle was worth at least $75,000, when it was "a fake, e.g. not `Nimschke' engraved." Similarly, a Colt Bisley Army revolver said to be "Factory Engraved" and worth $118,000 "was a fake, e.g. not as represented and, thus, was worth far less than the value represented."
A Nimschke-engraved Reming- ton revolver said to be worth $135,000 was also, the suit alleges, "a fake, e.g. not `Nimschke' engraved, and, thus, was worth far less than the value represented."
Another Nimschke-engraved Winchester silver-plated rifle came with a bonus, a diamond ring, and Frazier and the foundation paid Karen Cruse $300,000 for the pair. Salisbury and Wilson later appraised the rifle as worth $425,000, the suit states. The suit alleges that the "Silver Plated Rifle was a fake, e.g. not `Nimschke' engraved, and, thus, was worth less than the value represented."
The above list of allegations only skims the surface. The docket runs to 49 pages and alleges that a criminal conspiracy existed among those named to defraud Frazier and the museum foundation. As such, the cause of the suits falls under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
The discovery phase has barely begun. A trial date is far in the future.
c 2004 by Maine Antique Digest
This is just one of the more recent illegal deals Wilson has been involved in... there are several other equally as crooked deals he has been involved in.
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
Hey Bert! I would say that P.T. Barnum was right but hesitate to say Mr Brown is a fool! What a sack of crap those people are! This may be the only reason I'm glad I am not a rich man. I hope their new "roomates" don't say "I love you" or give them the benefit of a 'reach around'!!! It's a good thing there are some reputable types left in the hobby for us poor suckers to buy from.
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
Wilson got caught with his hands in the cookie jar before and weaseled out of it. He was a director of a museum in Conn. years ago, and sold some of the museums guns, under the table, to King Faisal of Jordon. How he was able to walk away from that one, without any sort of criminal prosecution, still amazes me? 
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quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
Wilson got caught with his hands in the cookie jar before and weaseled out of it. He was a director of a museum in Conn. years ago, and sold some of the museums guns, under the table, to King Faisal of Jordon. How he was able to walk away from that one, without any sort of criminal prosecution, still amazes me?
The statuate of limitations had expired before his thievery was discovered[:(!] He did much more than sell some of the Colt Museum's guns... he replaced HUNDREDS of them with lesser quality pieces out of his own collection and both kept and sold the originals. I have a photo copy of an article that was in the Gun Report many years ago that discussed the entire case in detail if you are interested.
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0
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