Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Apr 8, 2005 22:22:56 GMT -6
I despise liars, cheats and theives. This guy deserves no mercy...
Max Ary, the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center has been indicted on charges of stealing artifacts from the space flight museum in Hutchinson, Kan., and selling them, according to a press statement released today by the U.S. Justice Department.
Ary had no legal authority, the indictment alleges, to sell objects belonging to the museum or to NASA. The list of artifacts Ary is alleged to have sold includes:
A nose cone
A NASA silk screen
A photographic spot meter
An RX3 spacesuit component
Apollo 8 silk screens
n Apollo 11 silk screen
A flown Apollo 13 bus bar battery cable
A flown sextant crown assembly
An in-flight crew shirt
An Air Force One control panel
A Noun 70 Code panel, loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA that had been flow in space. It sold for $3,400. On April 4, 2001, Ary signed a report to NASA falsely stating the panel was still in the museum's collection.
A flown Apollo 12 water shut-off valve
A rotation controller
A purge valve for a spacesuit
A film canister
An Apollo 15 DDR tape that was loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA. Ary sold the tape for $2,200. Ary later signed documents and submitted them to NASA falsely indicating that the tape was still in the museum's collection.
The indictment alleges that Ary:
Failed to advise NASA of the loss of an Omega mock-up astronaut's watch valued at $25,000 even after an insurance claim was submitted and a payment was made for the loss. NASA loaned the replica of watches worn by astronauts during space missions to the Cosmosphere, but was not told of the insurance payment and did not receive any of the proceeds. Ary signed documents reporting to NASA that the watch was still in the Cosmosphere's possession.
Deposited into his personal accounts more than $35,000 from an auction in 1999 in which he sold items through a California auction house that were listed on the books and records of the Cosmosphere as property of the museum or were loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA.
Deposited more than $45,000 into his personal accounts from an auction in 2000 in which he sold items that were the property of the Cosmosphere.
More here: www.space.com/news/indisctment_kansas_050407.html
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Just five minutes and a lead pipe is all I ask...
Former Museum Director Indicted in Theft of Space Artifacts
Max Ary, the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center has been indicted on charges of stealing artifacts from the space flight museum in Hutchinson, Kan., and selling them, according to a press statement released today by the U.S. Justice Department.
Ary had no legal authority, the indictment alleges, to sell objects belonging to the museum or to NASA. The list of artifacts Ary is alleged to have sold includes:
A nose cone
A NASA silk screen
A photographic spot meter
An RX3 spacesuit component
Apollo 8 silk screens
n Apollo 11 silk screen
A flown Apollo 13 bus bar battery cable
A flown sextant crown assembly
An in-flight crew shirt
An Air Force One control panel
A Noun 70 Code panel, loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA that had been flow in space. It sold for $3,400. On April 4, 2001, Ary signed a report to NASA falsely stating the panel was still in the museum's collection.
A flown Apollo 12 water shut-off valve
A rotation controller
A purge valve for a spacesuit
A film canister
An Apollo 15 DDR tape that was loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA. Ary sold the tape for $2,200. Ary later signed documents and submitted them to NASA falsely indicating that the tape was still in the museum's collection.
The indictment alleges that Ary:
Failed to advise NASA of the loss of an Omega mock-up astronaut's watch valued at $25,000 even after an insurance claim was submitted and a payment was made for the loss. NASA loaned the replica of watches worn by astronauts during space missions to the Cosmosphere, but was not told of the insurance payment and did not receive any of the proceeds. Ary signed documents reporting to NASA that the watch was still in the Cosmosphere's possession.
Deposited into his personal accounts more than $35,000 from an auction in 1999 in which he sold items through a California auction house that were listed on the books and records of the Cosmosphere as property of the museum or were loaned to the Cosmosphere by NASA.
Deposited more than $45,000 into his personal accounts from an auction in 2000 in which he sold items that were the property of the Cosmosphere.
More here: www.space.com/news/indisctment_kansas_050407.html
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Just five minutes and a lead pipe is all I ask...
