Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MURRAY -- A convicted con man's prized possessions will be sold to help recover money for his victims. The Utah Attorney General's Office will have an auction in Murray next month. The items up for bid were bought with money the con man swindled from investors.
The items are valuable and many will appeal to sports fans. There is a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth, a jersey signed by Michael Jordan and a Super Bowl helmet signed by the Indianapolis Colts.
There are other sports memorabilia signed by baseball greats Hank Aaron, Sammy Sosa and Pete Rose, to name a few. Other items include a Harley Davidson motorcycle, exercise equipment and a painting.
There is also a diamond ring, a diamond tennis bracelet and a Rolex watch. All the items have been authenticated and appraised.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said, "With white collar criminals, once we catch them, it becomes very hard to recoup enough money for the victims because they've either spent it all, or they knew we were coming and liquidated all their assets, or moved it to places where we can't get a hold of it. The good news in this case is we have a lot of property that's potentially worth a lot of money."
He added, "We do know that he spent a lot of people's money on growing his collection of autographs, sports memorabilia and some really nice, very expensive things." All the items once belonged to 41-year-old Darin Kracl of South Jordan.
Kracl owned Advanced Trading Solutions in Draper and claimed his former clients included sports legends like Charles Barkley and Evander Holyfield.
But Kracl did not have a license to trade securities. He was convicted of securities fraud for taking nearly $7 million from two investors.
On June 1, a judge sentenced Kracl to 90 days in jail. He must pay restitution. If he doesn't, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
The auction is on July 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 5272 S. College Dr. (500 West) in Murray.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
