John Rogers: From Net 54 to Prison

[Robert_Lifson]

Hi Jeff and Leon and all of Net54! This really is an incredible story. It is even more amazing when one looks at all the public civil case documents that are easily accessed online (Arkansas happens to have a great site for this; requires a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it is amazing the case documents that can be accessed and it is very impressive):

https://caseinfo.aoc.arkansas.gov/cc...in.cp_main_idx

Included (and this is just the tip of the iceberg) are: Documents that are forged, borrowing money to finance the purchase of (and to use as collateral) collections that don’t exist, fake items, purchase and sale exhibit documents involving names such as John Rogers’ close associates Doug Allen and Peter Nash, fake cards used for collateral, more than 100% of a given deal committed for sale or use for collateral, green cash payments sent by mail, and creating email accounts in the name of others (at least one anyway) to impersonate a legitimate person to convince others that fake or questionable items are authentic.

This last one really hits home: I was informed by law enforcement that Rogers was impersonating me to vouch for items in “correspondence” he created and forwarded to a customer. See section 18 of the Criminal Information document. I assume I am the “Dealer 1”! I wasn't given much in the way of details except the email address had my name in it and the "alternate universe Robert Lifson" created by John Rogers was writing to vouch for items that apparently were very problematic to help Rogers sell his "wares". That was just about the craziest call I ever got! I have barely been able keep up with all the frauds perpetrated by Rogers. I have tried and all I can say is that it is fascinating and a very rich vein to mine for those interested!

Hope everyone on Net54 is well! And it is great to see Jeff L post again!


Sincerely,

Rob L

Robert Lifson

info@americanainvestments.com

[bravos4evr]

dang Rob that's a crazy story! it's like something from TV..... people.......... man sometimes they just find new and amazing ways to disappoint us

[Griffins]

Sorry if this was contained in the links (I couldn't see the answer), but has he been sentenced for any of this yet? Doug and Bill are both serving time, is there anyone else from Mastro/Legendary?

[grainsley]

Greed does wonderful things to people.

[slidekellyslide]

I wonder when Peter Nash will write about this on Haulsofshame.com ?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Hmmmm.

In a lengthy Facebook post Monday, Rogers apologized for his actions and said he had no one to blame but himself. He even thanked federal investigators from saving him from "a downward spiral of cocaine addiction."

"Had they not stepped in, I would be dead now," Rogers wrote. "I made hugely regretful, shameful mistakes, clouded in the daily haze of drug addiction, that I am ready to acknowledge and accept."

[SAllen2556]

Very sad to read about Mary Brace and her father's photos. I'd sure like to know why she didn't use an auction house or consider donating them to an institution that could have preserved them. Went for the quick buck I suppose. Too bad.

[rjackson44]

I agree with scott .so sad man.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

Very sad to read about Mary Brace and her father's photos. I'd sure like to know why she didn't use an auction house or consider donating them to an institution that could have preserved them. Went for the quick buck I suppose. Too bad.

Not the main point of this thread I know, but for what it's worth, Mary Brace hardly went for the quick buck when it came to the Burke/Brace collection. She operated the business of making prints from the negatives for years as her father's health declined, and continued for a decade after his passing. Without knowing the particulars of the deal with Rogers, I believe the big selling point for her was the promise of a return of digital scans of the negatives from which she could continue to supply prints to players and their families and fans. She could have easily turned the whole thing over to an auction house to part out and maximize her return, but in the end, she took the deal that would (she thought) best enable her to carry on the family business without the labor-intensive handling of the physical negatives.

In the interview below, she alludes to a website that was supposed to have been set up for the Burke/Brace archive that would have all of the digitized photos available, similar to what Rogers had done with the Conlon archive.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-14...miumvideo.html

I don't think she went for the quick buck at all, but perhaps let her desire to have the digitized archive override her business savvy. At the time, with Rogers having done similar deals with multiple newspapers to digitize their archives, having the Conlon website up and running, and by all appearances having the financial and physical ability to pull off what he was proposing, I don't think Mary had any real reason to question the deal that Rogers was offering. In hindsight, even in the quotes in the previous linked articles, she seemed to be lamenting the break-up and loss of the image archive more than the lack of restitution.

[Huck]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

Very sad to read about Mary Brace and her father's photos. I'd sure like to know why she didn't use an auction house or consider donating them to an institution that could have preserved them. Went for the quick buck I suppose. Too bad.

I purchased photographs from Mary Brace on a few occasions. She was always very pleasant to do business with. I was surprised when she sold the collection. She provided me with contact information (John Rogers) of the new owner of the collection. Eventually, I was able to contact John, but due to his lack of returning email messages in a timely matter, I was never able to purchase additional photographs. Ah well, with only $150 at stake, he had bigger fish to fry.

[sago]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I wonder when Peter Nash will write about this on Haulsofshame.com ?

Right after his series on the Cooperstown Forger

d@v1d. d@vls

[EvilKing00]

Screw a few people, make a few extra bucks and go to jail...

Seems to me you get much further in life being honest

[brian1961]

[QUOTE=EvilKing00;1584506]Screw a few people, make a few extra bucks and go to jail...

Seems to me you get much further in life being honest[/QUOTE

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

Screw a few people, make a few extra bucks and go to jail...

Seems to me you get much further in life being honest

Opinions vary greatly. Mastro only got 20 months and made millions. I would do 20 months for all the cash he made screwing people in a heartbeat. This is the guy who admitted doing anything to improve an item so it would sell for more cash.

Look at the Mastro shill bidder list. Look how many are still running auction houses or are big names in the card grading industry. It is actually quite sickening.