Watts said he and an associate, Kim Korpany, each pocketed $10,000 for the piece, which he valued in 2006 at $4.8 million. Watts said he gave a total of $75,000 to two Sept. 11 charities, and the rest went for foundry costs and other project expenses.

Watts said Coadum was to have paid him more — he wouldn't say how much — after it got the tax deduction. The SEC shut down the company before it could claim the deduction.

Huddleston said the receiver's asking price of $425,000 would ensure a reasonable return for duped investors. If Watts finds a buyer willing to pay more, he can keep half the difference, Huddleston said.

Regardless of whether it is sold, the statues must stay in Emmitsburg under Watts' deal with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Watts said he got permission from the three firefighters to reproduce their likenesses and started working on the statue long before securing financing.

Before the terrorist attacks, "New York was like another country to me," Watts said. "But when they raised the flag there, everybody that saw that picture, their heart went zoom."