Brian Drent grades GEM MINT 10 for integrity

[danmckee]

Recently Mr. Drent, the owner of Mile High Auction House, had unknowingly received a consignment that was obtained through larcenous means. When Mr. Drent was contacted regarding this stolen merchandise he was obviously shocked, but too his credit he acted swiftly and simply wanted to see the evidence that the merchandise in question was actually stolen. After reviewing the proof the merchandise was stolen, Mr. Drent simply said "I am returning your card because it's the right thing to do". In a time when certain Auction Houses are being accused of unethical practices, it's nice to know at least one Auction House owner stands up and does the right thing for one of it's hobby members. I would also like to make it clear that the actual consignor was not the individual that stole the card, but happened to purchase the card not knowing it was stolen property.

This is a happy ending to a recent theft.

Dan Mckee

[teetwoohsix]

Thank you for doing the right thing.Did the victim of this theft get their card(or cards?)back?

[BobbyVCP]

Brian IMPO is a stand up guy and trustworthy.

[egbeachley]

When confronted with evidence of theft, what do the owners of other Auction Houses usually do? Do they still attempt to sell it? Wouldn't that be fencing stolen goods?

[danmckee]

I am not a lawyer but I think Brian checked into the legal aspects and was under absolutely no legal obligation to return the card to the rightful owner. Remember, doing that put the consignor out who was also an innocent bystandard in this mess. I don't want to speak for Brian but I think he told me that he consulted his lawyer. Maybe Brian can chime in here to confirm. Dan.

[egbeachley]

I guess the other alternative would be to give it to the proper authorities.

I'm sure that in this case, the rightful owner got his card back. But it could be a risky move by MileHigh as the theft victim may no longer be the legal owner. If he received insurance proceeds, the insurance company is the owner. If purchased from a Police Auction that filed proper notices, the Consignor is the rightful owner. Etc, etc.

[danmckee]

This is not from the REA theft and yes it was graded but reholdered after the theft and no insurance was involved. Dan.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

When confronted with evidence of theft, what do the owners of other Auction Houses usually do? Do they still attempt to sell it? Wouldn't that be fencing stolen goods?

My understanding is that there can never be a clear title to stolen goods if the legal owner doesn't get them back. That being said I think (key word is 'think") there is precedence for when a stolen item is known about by the rightful owners, and they don't act on it in a timely manner, then there is some limitation set for recovery.

I think Brian did the right thing but I would have thought the item would have gone back to the consignor and the person it was stolen from would go to the consignor to get it back. I definitely would have consulted a lawyer, as it appears Brian did. Kudo's to him!!

And to answer the question above. I am fairly certain that knowingly selling stolen goods is a criminal act.

[Rich Klein]

If these are items from the stolen collection that REA blogged about recently. If so; and they are the graded cards; another reason why there are benefits to graded cards

Rich

[Bosox Blair]

None of this makes sense to me. But let me say this: I would not be giving him a 10 for anything if it was me who:

- bought a card, not knowing there was any question about it,
- consigned it to Mile High in good faith,
- found out Mile High decided to send it to some other person asserting a claim to it, and
- found out the police consider the card was never stolen ("no crime") to begin with...

I think I'd be giving him a few things, and a "10" ain't one of them...

Anyways, I'm sure the facts as they have been set out here are either incorrect or incomplete.

Cheers,
Blair