Former auction house executive to serve time

The former chairman of Sotheby’s auction house was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $7.5 million Monday for his role in a price-fixing scheme that exposed cutthroat tactics in the fine arts world.

“Regardless of what height we may attain in life, no one is above the law,” U.S. District Judge George Daniels told 78-year-old multimillionaire A. Alfred Taubman, above.

Taubman, chairman of Sotheby’s from 1983 to 2000, was convicted in December of antitrust violations for conspiring with his counterpart at Christie’s to set nonnegotiable commission rates for customers who sell artworks through either of the two auction houses. The two auction houses control more than 90 percent of the world’s art auctions.

Prosecutors said Taubman overcharged Sotheby’s sellers $43.8 million over six years.

Manufacturing: Farmland fertilizer sales up

Farmland Industry officials said Monday that fertilizer operations have once again become profitable for the company, but gave no indication of whether they have plans to re-open the Lawrence fertilizer production plant.

Farmland President and CEO Bob Honse said fertilizers sales have significantly increased in the country’s corn producing areas, and the company has been able to phase in three price increases for fertilizer in the past 15 days.

“That business has returned to profitability for us and our shipments are now on course to exceed the last two of three years,” Honse said.

Farmland idled its Lawrence nitrogen fertilizer plant in January. The company in a Securities and Exchange Commission report last week said it was in a position to re-open the Lawrence plant within 60 to 90 days if market conditions improved. Company officials didn’t comment on whether the latest surge in fertilizer sales would be enough to re-open the plant, which previously employed more than 150 people.

Utilities: Western reports loss

A one-time accounting charge caused Topeka-based Western Resources Inc. to record a loss of $9.14 per share of common stock during the first quarter of this year. Without that charge, earnings would have been higher than they were in the first quarter of 2001.

The loss compares to earnings of 6 cents per share during the first quarter of 2001. The loss was attributable to a one-time $657 million charge largely associated with the restructuring of assets of Protection One. Without the one-time charge, Western would have earned 36 cents per share.

Agriculture: Rain improves wheat slightly

Recent showers have helped some winter wheat growing areas in Kansas, but much of western and central Kansas remains very dry, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday.

In its weekly crop weather report, the agency reported only slightly improved wheat conditions across the state.

It rated 15 percent of the Kansas crop as very poor and 23 percent as poor. Another 36 percent of the crop was ranked in fair condition. Only 23 percent got a good rating and just 3 percent was in excellent condition. The agency reports pasture conditions as 8 percent very poor, 30 percent poor, 42 percent fair, 19 percent good and 1 percent excellent.