I ask in advance you forgive my Sixteen Candles references below but laughing is all I can do to keep from blowing my top on this one.
“Hey Howard there’s your Chinaman in the front yard and his pockets are stuffed with fake T206 overprint cards..”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tktNZpUTMoQ
This is going to be an interactive post so use all links to garner the full story and the steps it took to a handful of us to get to the bottom of one of the bigger scams in our hobby.
I along with some other folks have been questioning the authenticity of T206 Old Mill “Black” overprints for some time. In fact so much so that I set out to win the current Old Mill OP in REA this year. My plan was to have my own copy to do tests on and examine in full detail out of the holder. I had seen one other but it was in a private collection and I wasn’t going to ask if I could break their card out to debunk…LOL
Amongst my ongoing investigation of collected images and notes along with my current winning bid in REA, I was brought up to speed on another angle of a similar investigation by Jim Rivera.
Jim and I had met for the first time in PA at the new Reading show. Jim mentioned to me his doubts as did I. He shared a piece of information that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
That tidbit of info is that one collector named Pat Chan had owned 2 other Old Mill OP and wouldn’t it be odd if the card in REA was his as well.
We raised the question and concerns with Rob Lifson of REA and understood if he didn’t want to tell due to privacy issues of consignors we understood. We asked him only to tell if it was in fact Chan. Shocked we found out it was in fact consigned by Patrick Chan! This now proved that Chan has had three examples of a next to impossible to find T206 oddity.
Dan Mckee and Jim Rivera also thought Chan might in fact be the owner of the famed T206 information site T206musuem.com. But had no proof to tie Chan to the site that was famous for hyping these T206 oddities.
At that point I contacted Rob Lifson with our collective thoughts. Rob sent the card back to SGC for a second look. SGC came back and said it looked good but upon hearing all of the info and noting that Chan was the submitter for grading at SGC….SGC began to have concerns as well.
They asked Rob if he knew of anybody else who might review the card for a second opinion. Rob asked SGC to send the card to me for review. At that point I felt compelled to contact the other collectors I knew who in fact had one of these questionable cards. I reluctantly brought them up to speed and asked if I could also review their card in person they willing agreed.
Upon receiving both cards I began my investigation of which can be found at the link below for your review as well.
http://imageevent.com/piojohn3/fraud...milloverprints
Please Read Link Above Before Reading On.
Or you can download a full version here...
http://www.box.net/shared/bep1nopzsq
My conclusions were that all “Black” Old Mill Overprints are in fact forgeries and at best original “Red” Old Mill Overprints weren’t different back examples or series just hand cut printers scraps that made it of the factory with a different brand stamp mark.
This very information deemed these “Black” cards to be fake but with no hard evidence to point to who made them only lots of circumstantial evidence that Chan was involved having so many examples.
This information was then forwarded to an FBI agent.
After reading the information and discussing with me and Rob Lifson the FBI felt there was enough information to pay Mr. Chan a visit.
The FBI did in fact pay Mr. Chan a visit and though we don’t have any information on the exact details of that day here’s what we can tell you.
The FBI agent as requested the cards back. Mr. Chan the day of the raid if you will has contacted all owners of these cards in an attempt to work deals for their return and to compensate those who owned them.
Mr. Chan has also admitted to owning and printing them as well as being tied directly to T206museum.com by admitting ownership from the recently deleted “Black Double Bar” which was listed for sale on T206musuem.com for 35k.
This card can be found in the linked booklet. This card was part of a so called 250 card Old Mill find of T210’s and T206’s which can now be proven as false.
He has also in a private emails in which I was privy too admitted to making the “Single” bar versions as well. Here are a few excerpts directly from Chan himself.
I have removed the names of the innocent parties that were scammed by Chan. If they choose to come forward that is their decision.
Email from Patrick Chan the day of the FBI visit to known owner of one of the 4 fake cards…
“I am deeply sorry for everything. I know I was stupid and made all these messes. I guess I was just too crazy about t206s. Honestly, I created those overprints a long time ago for my own enjoyment and not for money. When there was a time many collectors bitching about PSA didn't know anything about vintage cards so I decided to submit my creations to PSA and tested how much they know about those overprints and turned out they really didn't know anything about them and that's how they got encapsulated. Anyways, I posted my Lipe on eBay (with no intention of selling it) and solely for showmanship. I did received a lot of cash offers and I refused every single one of them until REMOVED NAME offered me a trade deals that involved some t206 oddities that I have never seen before. At that time, my "fever" and "craziness" on t206 oddities completely covered my sane and heart and evenutally traded out the Hart. I had an agreement with NAME REMOVED that if he ever wanted to sell the Hart and I will buy it back from him, unfortunately, my cash flow was tight and I wasn't able to buy it back. Anyways, I am very sorry for what I have caused to your family and all of the disappointment. In fact, I am glad you are the one who has the Hart (since I know the owner) so I can fix the stupid mess in an easier fashion. Ironically, I am also glad FBI was involved so I can finally realized how stupid I was and finally wake up and realized how much I have done to the hobby.”
Second email from Patrick Chan to the same collectors upon working out a deal…
“I really hope the $k can compensation of what I did to you, and your family. Please pass my apology to BLANK and the rest of your family. I still love this hobby and I have decided not to touch any of my collection for sometime to cool down my "t-fever". I wish you best of luck building your collections. I hope you and BLANK would keep my stupid acts in a low profile since I really feel ashamed of myself and really hope I can use my t206 knowledge and collection that I have to educate more collectors in a positive way when I come back to the hobby in the future. I am really sorry for the "betrayal of trust".”
page two coming...