[Leon]

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby

Leon,

Actually on some of these points, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you.

You are right that trimming a card and sending it to grading company isn't fraud in itself - unless you sell the card then it probably is fraud - depending on the severity of the trimming. In the legal arena, there can be criminal fraud and civil fraud. Civil fraud is easier to prove. There is fraud by deliberate deception and also fraud by non-disclosure.

In Texas the elements of a cause of action for fraud by nondisclosure are:

(1) the defendant failed to disclose facts to the plaintiff;
(2) the defendant had a duty to disclose those facts;
(3) the facts were material;
(4) the defendant knew the plaintiff was ignorant of the facts and the plaintiff did not have an equal opportunity to discover the facts;
(5) the defendant was deliberately silent when it had a duty to speak;
(6) by failing to disclose the facts, the defendant intended to induce the plaintiff to take some action or refrain from acting;
(7) the plaintiff relied on the defendant's nondisclosure; and
(8) the plaintiff was injured as a result of acting without that knowledge.

Reservoir Syst., Inc. v. TGS–NOPEC Geophysical Co., L.P., 335 S.W.3d 297, 306 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2010, pet. denied)

The key issue is if trimming or some other type of alteration is a material issue. In the case of consumer fraud, courts have ruled that a "deception is material, in that it is likely to influence the consumer’s purchasing decision". To me, if someone trims a card that clearly will improve the appearance, then it's a material change, since knowing that the card has been significantly altered will influence my decision to purchase the card.

You are right in that law enforcement has been reluctant to prosecute these types of cases. I've learned that lesson the hard way. I believe the biggest problem with doctored graded cards are chain a custody issues since the card passes through so many hands.

With all of this said, it appears the most effective avenue for exposing these kinds of activities has been this forum, Net54Baseball.com and once again I commend you for moderating this forum and not backing down on the fraudsters when they get exposed. Keep up the fantastic work.

Hey Dan
That was possibly the best post I can remember, from someone disagreeing with me. And actually, if someone trimmed a card, got it numerically graded, and then sold it..... it certainly would/could be fraud. (if that is what you were saying?) Those elements look like fairly low barriers to proving fraud. Thanks for posting them. Thanks for the kind words on the forum too. The other mods and I appreciate it.