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RALEIGH (MCT) — The glittering former possessions of former Raleigh financier William Wise flew off a local auction block Wednesday.

At the same time, federal officials tried to toss an international net around the missing Wise and the remains of the millions he is accused of taking in a Ponzi scheme.

Staffers at the auction said the celebrity status of the Triangle's Mini-Madoff helped drive up prices, such as the $80,000 winning bid for Wise's luxury Mercedes convertible. Retail-plus figures were rung up for items such as hundreds of designer handbags once owned by his wife, Lynn Wise. A brown leather Louis Vuitton hobo bag brought $2,500.

''It's the provenance," said Sandy Stallings, who works for Hillsborough auctioneer Leland Little. "It's the story behind the bag."

Unlike imprisoned financier Bernie Madoff, Wise has been charged civilly, but not criminally with defrauding investors of millions. Still, nearly 800 people bid online, and about the same number crowded the ballroom of the North Raleigh Hilton as Wise's wares were auctioned.

Little, running the sale along with Rockingham-based Iron Horse Auction, sparked repeated bidding battles with punchy descriptions and rapid patter.

An elaborate golden ring with a diamond of nearly 4 carats went for $150,000, a Mercedes sedan fetched $48,000 and a Cadillac Escalade brought in $64,000.

Kevin Rollins, who came to the sale from Lee County, said bidders were getting too caught up in the excitement.

''It'd be nice to drive it home, but I didn't come here to donate," Rollins said, checking out the Mercedes sedan before it sold.

The amounts raised -- totals weren't available Wednesday night -- shrank in significance compared with the more than $200 million that wife Lynn Wise's lawyer said Wise is now thought to have garnered from people who invested in his failed Millennium Bank, which was based in the Caribbean. A court-appointed receiver is trying to recover money for the investors using tactics including the Raleigh auction.

''I think the interest was because it was a local Ponzi artist and people are trying to get the investors some help -- and get some nice items," said Jessica Pearson, office manager at Leland Little Auctions.

In March, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission accused Wise and others of defrauding hundreds of clients through his Millennium Bank, simultaneously raiding offices in Raleigh and California. Millennium investors bought CDs with advertised interest rates higher than any available in the U.S., according SEC filings.

On Friday, a federal court in Texas, where some of Wise's investors lived, issued subpoenas for documents tied to more than 100 Wise-related accounts in businesses including Credit Suisse, Wachovia, RBC, American Express, Bank of America, Toronto Dominion Bank, Sears MasterCard and Neiman Marcus.

Last month, the same court issued a subpoena for Wise, to be served through Dallas lawyer Billy Ravkind, who represents Lynn Wise.

''They try to give it to someone who will be able to get (the subpoena) to the person who they were trying to serve," Ravkind said Wednesday.

The attorney said he received one or two calls from Wise after the Canadian-born businessman's departure from Raleigh in March but has no idea where he is.

''To the best of the receiver's knowledge, William Wise has fled the country," Richard Roper, the court-appointed receiver in the civil case, said in an update.