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http://www.boston.com/news/local/co...indicted_for_fraud_conspiracy_in_museum_case/
Gun expert indicted on fraud conspiracy in museum case
July 10, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky. --A well-known author and antique gun expert helped an Alabama couple defraud a Louisville museum founder out of nearly $2 million by inflating the values of some antique firearms, according to a federal indictment issued Monday.Prosecutors estimated that Michael Salisbury and his wife, Karen, turned a profit of at least $1.75 million from 1997 to 2002 by giving false appraisals of weapons to collector Owsley Brown Frazier.
Robert L. Wilson, known as "R.L. Wilson," helped the Salisburys prepare appraisal certifications in November 2000 for several antique firearms that Salisbury bought on behalf of Frazier, according to the indictment. The grand jury charged Wilson with conspiracy to commit fraud and making false statements on federal tax returns.
The indictment said Wilson, of San Francisco and formerly of Lyme, Conn., made the false statements on his tax returns in 2000 and 2001.
Frazier was collecting antique firearms for the Frazier Historical Arms Museum in downtown Louisville, which he funded with his own money. Court documents said Frazier, former vice chairman of the Brown-Forman Corp., sometimes paid twice the value of the original purchase price, federal prosecutors said.
Wilson, 67, faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He's scheduled to be arraigned in Louisville on Aug. 21.
He filed bankruptcy in 2001 and is currently serving a one-year prison sentence for fraud in an unrelated gun swindling case in Connecticut.
In that case, federal prosecutors said Wilson arranged a deal for a buyer to acquire an antique Colt pistol in exchange for cash and other antique firearms. Prosecutors said Wilson kept $195,000 that was supposed to go to the seller and disposed of the other antique guns to pay off a creditor. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced last December.
The Salisburys were indicted in federal court in January on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, federal tax evasion and money laundering.
Frazier's 100,000-square-foot museum in downtown Louisville houses several ancient artifacts and a collection from the Royal Armouries, Britain's national repository for arms and armor.
Gun expert indicted on fraud conspiracy in museum case
July 10, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky. --A well-known author and antique gun expert helped an Alabama couple defraud a Louisville museum founder out of nearly $2 million by inflating the values of some antique firearms, according to a federal indictment issued Monday.Prosecutors estimated that Michael Salisbury and his wife, Karen, turned a profit of at least $1.75 million from 1997 to 2002 by giving false appraisals of weapons to collector Owsley Brown Frazier.
Robert L. Wilson, known as "R.L. Wilson," helped the Salisburys prepare appraisal certifications in November 2000 for several antique firearms that Salisbury bought on behalf of Frazier, according to the indictment. The grand jury charged Wilson with conspiracy to commit fraud and making false statements on federal tax returns.
The indictment said Wilson, of San Francisco and formerly of Lyme, Conn., made the false statements on his tax returns in 2000 and 2001.
Frazier was collecting antique firearms for the Frazier Historical Arms Museum in downtown Louisville, which he funded with his own money. Court documents said Frazier, former vice chairman of the Brown-Forman Corp., sometimes paid twice the value of the original purchase price, federal prosecutors said.
Wilson, 67, faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He's scheduled to be arraigned in Louisville on Aug. 21.
He filed bankruptcy in 2001 and is currently serving a one-year prison sentence for fraud in an unrelated gun swindling case in Connecticut.
In that case, federal prosecutors said Wilson arranged a deal for a buyer to acquire an antique Colt pistol in exchange for cash and other antique firearms. Prosecutors said Wilson kept $195,000 that was supposed to go to the seller and disposed of the other antique guns to pay off a creditor. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced last December.
The Salisburys were indicted in federal court in January on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, federal tax evasion and money laundering.
Frazier's 100,000-square-foot museum in downtown Louisville houses several ancient artifacts and a collection from the Royal Armouries, Britain's national repository for arms and armor.
