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One Casino Boat Goes For $515,000 May 10, 2003

Friday's auction at the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel in downtown Tampa wasn't for the indecisive shopper or those light in the wallet. John W. Scott didn't break a sweat while successfully bidding $150,000 on a 155-foot former casino boat. And he isn't even sure what to do with it.

"I have no idea; I may sell it," said Scott, a retired chief of prosthetics at Bay Pines Veterans Administration Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. "I might throw a couple of parties on it first ... a pre-bankruptcy party."

Scott was one of 22 bidders vying for six vessels and gambling equipment at the U.S. Treasury Department auction. The boats were seized in January from Stardancer Casino Cruises Inc., which operated out of Little River, as well as the Florida towns of Madeira Beach, Tarpon Springs and Port Richey.

The seizures were part of an Internal Revenue Service investigation into Mark Steven Miller, a former Ohio bank chief executive charged with embezzlement and money laundering. Stardancer, based in Little River, allegedly received $40 million in funds embezzled by Miller, according to federal court documents.

A 133-foot former casino boat called Stardancer pulled in the highest bid of the day at $515,000. Wayne Tinsley of Fort Myers, the successful bidder, said he plans to refurbish and lease the boat. He said he thinks he got a good deal.

"I knew what I wanted to pay before I started," he said. Three other floating casinos attracted winning bids between $155,000 and $350,000. And two smaller 58-foot water taxis sold for $300,000 and $380,000.

Bidding on one of the four gaming boats required a $100,000 deposit, and $25,000 was needed to bid on the water taxis. The auction also featured hundreds of slot machines and other assorted gaming equipment, which collectively sold for $242,000.

The entire auction netted almost $2.2 million. Tad Humphreys, whose company International Ship Repair and Marine Services was owned money by Stardancer, smiled as the bidding progressed throughout the auction.

"The more money the auction makes, the better chance we have to get some of our money back," he said. Humphreys said the auction earned "about 10 percent better than I had hoped."

Britney Sheehan, a spokeswoman with EG&G Technical Services, which conducted the auction for the Treasury Department, said auction officials were somewhat disappointed with the final figures.

"The combined sale was less than we expected," she said. Sheehan wouldn't disclose the appraised value of the items auctioned because all sales are pending court approval. The Treasury Department conducts about 300 auctions annually in the Tampa area, Sheehan said.

The auctions usually attract a mix of serious buyers, as well as the curious. "You always get some people who think they're going to get something for nothing, but then they realize they can't and leave," she said. "The only way you're going to get a Porsche for $250 is if it's worth $250."

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