The U.S. Marshals Service is conducting an online auction to sell works of art that include the collection of convicted Colorado swindler Shawn Merriman.
The Marshals Service said 157 works from Merriman’s collection are being auctioned off, including approximately 40 Rembrandts and several from Albrect Drurer.
Merriman, 49, was convicted in 2010 of mail fraud for a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 67 investors. He was sentenced to 151 months in prison and ordered to pay $20 million in restitution.
The items are up for auction at until July 2.
The most highly valued is Rembrandt’s “Christ Presented to the People,” with a bid that must be at or above $68,000. Rembrandt’s “Christ Appearing to the Apostles” has a starting bid of $21,250.
Starting bids for all the art in Merriman’s collection total about $250,000.
Nearly 200 works of art, including 63 by Rembrandt and 18 by
Durer, were among the assets seized from Merriman’s Arapahoe County home in April 2009.
Also seized were classic cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and hundreds of other items, which have already been auctioned.
Merriman estimated that his assets were worth $7 million, with the bulk of that being the art collection.
The Marshals Service said the auction proceeds will be used to compensate victims.
Merriman is serving time in a federal prison in South Dakota with a scheduled release date in 2020 .
Also being offered in the online auction is art collected by Marc Dreier, 62, of New York, who was convicted in 2009 for fraud and money laundering $400 million. Art collected by Justin French, 41, of Richmond, Va., is also being auctioned. French was convicted in 2011 for stealing millions from federal and state credit tax programs intended to rehabilitate historic buildings.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com on twitter @HowardPankratz
