If I can read into this correctly, is it possible that on 12/13/07, Dave Forman placed a number of max bids, and then after "winning" the cards, felt that he had been shilled, and refused to pay for them?
I think it's fair to question the ethics of card grading company staff, but in this instance I don't see how it applies, since Forman was the buyer of graded cards. I think Joe Orlando owns cards, too; it's hard to imagine that a President of a grading company wouldn't have a passion for cards and not want to collect them. That in itself is not a sin. There seems to be no evidence that Forman bought anything raw and had it graded; that would certainly be hazy, but it wouldn't lack integrity unless the grading that became unobjective. But to buy graded cards, I think is okay. These people have a right to collect.
I don't think this does anything to damage the integrity of SGC's grading. I just think it's a real embarrassment for its President, which might affect SGC's image. I feel bad for him.
Disclosure: I own no high value SGC cards.
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