FBI at the National!

[calvindog]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...feds_hunt.html

Looks like Doug might have been well-served to have that Thursday night bellyache of his last through Friday night as well.

"Allen was issued a subpoena just before the start of his company's auction Friday night at the House of Blues in downtown Cleveland."

[Jay Wolt]

Seems like a bunch of subpoenas were issued, not just Doug's

[toppcat]

NY Daily News has an O'Keeffe article this morning on investigations of most, if not all the major auction houses by the FBI and the presence of their agents at the National.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If this excerpt is to be believed, the focus is on memorabilia, not auction house bidding practices or (gasp) altered cards.

"An industry executive told the Daily News that the agents are gathering information about auction houses, dealers and authenticators who knowingly sell counterfeit jerseys, bogus game-used bats and other tainted memorabilia."

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If this excerpt is to be believed, the focus is on memorabilia, not auction house bidding practices or (gasp) altered cards.

Peter, I suspect that a target of the federal criminal investigation -- Mastro, et al. -- would beg to differ.

[Mark]

It sounds like PSA ---but not MEARS---is being investigated about the authentication of counterfeit jersys and bogus game used bats. I wonder which bats they have in mind.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If this excerpt is to be believed, the focus is on memorabilia, not auction house bidding practices or (gasp) altered cards.

"An industry executive told the Daily News that the agents are gathering information about auction houses, dealers and authenticators who knowingly sell counterfeit jerseys, bogus game-used bats and other tainted memorabilia."

I think the FBI considers cards to be memorabilia...it also appears they issued subpoenas to auction houses for their bidding records too.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Dan I hope you are right, although at least judging by the list of names it appears they may have missed several that I personally would think might prove fertile ground.

[benjulmag]

It would seem the Feds. have broadened the scope of their investigation to include the sale by auction houses of items of memorabilia that they either knew were counterfeit or had serious questions as to their authenticity.

[bikerider60]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

It would seem the Feds. have broadened the scope of their investigation to include the sale by auction houses of items of memorabilia that they either knew were counterfeit or had serious questions as to their authenticity.

I think the Government should spend their resources on .....Terrorists, Health Care..for US citizens only. Baseball Collectors is another waste of my Tax $$$$. CUT THE PORK .......I'm tired of BS from the US . There will be a new Civil WAR!!!!....... Get the economy back...........THANKS

[sportscardtheory]

Originally Posted by bikerider60

I think the Government should spend their resources on .....Terrorists, Health Care..for US citizens only. Baseball Collectors is another waste of my Tax $$$$. CUT THE PORK .......I'm tired of BS from the US . There will be a new Civil WAR!!!!....... Get the economy back...........THANKS

So people should be able to lie and cheat to make money off unsuspecting buyers? Upholding the law is "pork"? Nice opinion.

We have the upmost respect for the FBI.

It is imperative that we cleanse the hobby of shill bidding, as well as those who are knowingly selling items that are not authentic and/or are altering cards

Whilst our mantra remains "trust no one double check everyone", we appreciate the efforts to close down and punish those break the law.

When we made a personal decision to sell a number of very significant items, the distinguished auction house whom we selected discovered four valuable items that were not as described. Three were acquired from auction houses that are currently being questioned by the FBI.

In each case, the auction house that represented our interest wrote to the organization from whom we purchased these items and each case we received a check back. Said payments totaled more than $15,000.

We should further note that we had kept the original bills of sale and each auction house sent us a check within 48 hours of receiving the note.

This a wonderful hobby. Today many of the items that we collect are worth thousands of dollars. It is reassuring to know the FBI, Post Office and a few
industry experts have the integrity, ethics and power to ensure that we (and other collectors) receive items which are authentic and have not been altered and/or stolen.

With all good wishes


Bruce Doskind
America's Toughest Want List

[bcornell]

Originally Posted by bikerider60

Baseball Collectors is another waste of my Tax $$$$.

Not mine. I hope they continue to investigate and prosecute the sellers or auctions houses that are committing fraud.

The key here is mail fraud, by the way. It's not just the FBI who was present in Cleveland.



Bill

Get rid of the GREAT ONE that was supposed to fix our nation and maybe this may come about. More debt, and bad decisions, and now more of my friends and 2 more of my family to the butcher shop. I made it out once and that was it for me. We could go all day but I have said my piece. I PRAISE THE GOVENMENT FOR FINALLY GETTING THEM FRAUDS, MAYBE IT HITS TO CLOSE TO HOME FOR YOU

Originally Posted by bikerider60

I think the Government should spend their resources on .....Terrorists, Health Care..for US citizens only. Baseball Collectors is another waste of my Tax $$$$. CUT THE PORK .......I'm tired of BS from the US . There will be a new Civil WAR!!!!....... Get the economy back...........THANKS

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Pup6913

Get rid of the GREAT ONE that was supposed to fix our nation and maybe this may come about. More debt, and bad decisions, and now more of my friends and 2 more of my family to the butcher shop. I made it out once and that was it for me. We could go all day but I have said my piece. I PRAISE THE GOVENMENT FOR FINALLY GETTING THEM FRAUDS, MAYBE IT HITS TO CLOSE TO HOME FOR YOU

Well said.

[lharri3600]

i'm an hobby novice, but i suspected something was not right. see what the love of money will do! i wish we could just go back to the days when i bought packs just for the gum, but i did save the cards too.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I agree with Bruce that this hobby must be cleaned up, and while I am pessimistic it ever will happen, even with intervention by law enforcement, I am certain that as presently configured it won't happen as a result of self-policing or collector intervention. For the most part we (and I include myself) are sheep led to the slaughter by our addiction and wishful thinking.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I agree with Bruce that this hobby must be cleaned up, and while I am pessimistic it ever will happen, even with intervention by law enforcement, I am certain that as presently configured it won't happen as a result of self-policing or collector intervention. For the most part we (and I include myself) are sheep led to the slaughter by our addiction and wishful thinking.

Peter hit the nail on the head. Self-policing certainly can do no good when the very victims of fraud themselves are slobbering at the feet of those who have wronged them.

[Sean_C]

Agreed. How many people here placed bids at Friday Night's auction, even with all of the known issues with Mastro / Legendary? "Stuff trumps all" is a poor excuse.

Originally Posted by calvindog

Peter hit the nail on the head. Self-policing certainly can do no good when the very victims of fraud themselves are slobbering at the feet of those who have wronged them.