Chris Morales appears in court for an autograph case, read about the results.

[mdschulze]

Is there some legal loophole here that I'm missing? Why hasn't this clown been locked up along with Coach's Corner? With all the evidence that is against him, and with no rebuttal from Morales on these public accusations, you'd think the Feds would have stepped in and closed him down by now.

It's just a matter of time before he authenticates a signature from Jesus and Coach's Corner has it up for auction.

[thetruthisoutthere]

The real irony being the Stereo-Microscope that was used by FDE Mr. Robin Williams to determine that the ten signatures were all traced by a forger, is probably similar to the Stereo-Microscope that Morales is posing with on his website. Geez, maybe it wasn't plugged in when he was examining those ten signatures of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester and Lon Chaney.

In all seriousness, the main question is, doesn't Morales physically examine anything that he issues COAs for?

[Big Dave]

For all the complaints against Mr. Morales, there really isn't anything that can be done legally. After all is said and done, he is only offering his opinion on items, right or wrong, which is the same as all authenticators do. When nobody does business with him anymore, then that is when he will close up shop.

Take Donald Frangipani in comparison. His COAs were on so many of the items sold and confiscated in regard to Operation Bullpen, yet he is still in business and did not get into any trouble in regard to Operation Bullpen. The reason being, he was only stating his opinion, which we all have, and which is still, not against the law.

Pretty much is the same in regard to Coach's Corner. They are auctioning items that people send in, and these items are being sold based on opinions as to the authenticity, the same as all auction houses do.

CC has been in the auction business since 1996 - 15 years - and will probably be around a lot longer.

Being as Mr. Morales or Coach's Corner don't actually create these questionable items, there really isn't anything legally that can be done. Now if it were to be a fact that they did create these items, then that would be a different story.

Everything is based on opinions and money. The bidders know who the authenticators are on pretty much everything, and there is a wealth of information on the Internet for them to make a judgment in regard to purchasing from CC.

It is what you believe, or want to believe, that makes an item real.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

It is what you believe, or want to believe, that makes an item real.

Uhhh... No.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

For all the complaints against Mr. Morales, there really isn't anything that can be done legally. After all is said and done, he is only offering his opinion on items, right or wrong, which is the same as all authenticators do.

I don't believe this is accurate. It wouldn't take much of an investigation or a very clever prosecutor to link him as a key component of a criminal conspiracy.

"It's my opinion" may be a valid defense for errors that fall within an acceptable margin of error. When you are wrong almost all the time, and there is a criminal pattern to your "errors," this defense will not hold up.

Take Donald Frangipani in comparison. His COAs were on so many of the items sold and confiscated in regard to Operation Bullpen, yet he is still in business and did not get into any trouble in regard to Operation Bullpen. The reason being, he was only stating his opinion, which we all have, and which is still, not against the law.

Actually, the only reason Frangipani wiggled off the hook is that he played dumb and claimed that someone forged his COAs. The irony!

Unlike other players in the Marino crime syndicate, Frangipani was smart enough to not say anything incriminating when he was being recorded. But he was definitely a person of interest to the FBI.

I believe this is a reason why these "Forensic Document Examiners" do not include photographs of the item on their COAs. It preserves the defense that an item could have been swapped out or some other variation of "That's not the item I examined!"

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

I don't believe this is accurate. It wouldn't take much of an investigation or a very clever prosecutor to link him as a key component of a criminal conspiracy.

"It's my opinion" may be a valid defense for errors that fall within an acceptable margin of error. When you are wrong almost all the time, and there is a criminal pattern to your "errors," this defense will not hold up.



Actually, the only reason Frangipani wiggled off the hook is that he played dumb and claimed that someone forged his COAs. The irony!

Unlike other players in the Marino crime syndicate, Frangipani was smart enough to not say anything incriminating when he was being recorded. But he was definitely a person of interest to the FBI.

I believe this is a reason why these "Forensic Document Examiners" do not include photographs of the item on their COAs. It preserves the defense that an item could have been swapped out or some other variation of "That's not the item I examined!"

Frangipani made himself look real bad during that HBO show. Then he had the nerve to sue a bunch of people.

Look at the newest Morales COA. It doesn't even include the name of the signer or a description of the item.

The only reason that Morales might get it right once-in-awhile is because he gets lucky. I'd love to see proof that he physically examines anything.

[mdschulze]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

The only reason that Morales might get it right once-in-awhile is because he gets lucky. I'd love to see proof that he physically examines anything.

There's a photo of him on his website looking through a microscope... what more proof could anyone ask for?

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by mdschulze

There's a photo of him on his website looking through a microscope... what more proof could anyone ask for?

Drew Max (AAU) has a magnifying glass with the biggest lens this side of the Hubble telescope.

He MUST be good!!

[thetruthisoutthere]

Hey, Morales, did you actually physically examine the below autographs of Paul and Lloyd Waner? Did you happen to look at the "R" on both signatures? Both sigs were penned by the same person, Morales.

http://www.myccsa.com/Lot.aspx?LotID=275389

WanerBrothers.jpg

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by mdschulze

Is there some legal loophole here that I'm missing? Why hasn't this clown been locked up along with Coach's Corner? With all the evidence that is against him, and with no rebuttal from Morales on these public accusations, you'd think the Feds would have stepped in and closed him down by now.

It's just a matter of time before he authenticates a signature from Jesus and Coach's Corner has it up for auction.

Mike,
NOW up for auction on CC

It's an 8x10 with an incredibly important inscription.


This one is 11x17 and came from the Iscariot collection.




Mark

[mdschulze]

Nice job Mark... title it, "Holy Crap" and submit it to Mr. Morales and let him know that one of your ancestors acquired the sigs himself, in person, and that they have been locked in an old cedar chest up in the attic for the last 2000 years!

@ Mr. Williams: Nice article and research... I enjoyed reading it, thanks!

@ Big Dave: I didn't realize that they couldn't be held legally responsible for their actions/opinions. If authenticators have this to fall back on to cover their a$$es, then why aren't there more self proclaimed authenticators out there? Given today's economy and the increased amount of scammers, it's surprising that more people don't jump on the bandwagon... at least temporarily until they are exposed.

Additionally, I don't think it would be too hard to see where the fakes are being originated.... maybe a little heat from the Feds towards CC would turn up some names. Makes me wonder why this hasn't been done already. Is it because the Feds see this as a waste of time or for some other agenda that I'm missing?

[RichardSimon]

There has been an anonymous e mail which circulated a while ago.
It named several people as suppliers of CC.
Three of the four names did not surprise me at all.
However, the e mail did not offer any evidence of their guilt.

[thetruthisoutthere]

There are approximately 4,000 auctions listed by CC every month. I would bet a ton of money that all of their autograph auctions (vintage, cut sigs, historical) are supplied to CC by less then ten people. Maybe less than five. It's incredible the tens of thousands pieces of garbage that both Lee Trythall and Scott Malack have flooded the market with. It's insane that it still continues. The majority of it "authenticated" by Chris Morales, Forensic Investigator, and Ted Taylor (TTA & Stat Authentic).

[mdschulze]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

There are approximately 4,000 auctions listed by CC every month. I would bet a ton of money that all of their autograph auctions (vintage, cut sigs, historical) are supplied to CC by less then ten people. Maybe less than five. It's incredible the tens of thousands pieces of garbage that both Lee Trythall and Scott Malack have flooded the market with. It's insane that it still continues. The majority of it "authenticated" by Chris Morales, Forensic Investigator, and Ted Taylor (TTA & Stat Authentic).

This was my thought exactly! I can picture 3-4 guys sitting around the table with a couple of beers knocking out autographs and laughing about everyone they're screwing. I wonder how much $$ these guys have scammed out of people since they started? This pisses me off to the extreme to find worthless people out there who screw people out of their money, regardless of what industry it's in. What do you do to stop these guys? You and several others have written informative articles that can be easily accessible on the internet, but now what? It's frustrating to see this info out there with no rebuttals from the guilty and no pending criminal charges.

[thetruthisoutthere]

There is a ton of information on the web about the thousands of GAI authenticated forgeries with Mike Baker's name on the COA. But check out the below Ebay seller. Look at his photographs of the GAI cert. He conveniently cuts the GAI cert just above where Mike Baker's name would read. Of course, these Mike Baker certed forgeries are very obvious without the GAI cert.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Si...item3cb962aa91

FAT-1.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Wi...item3cb9629a98

FAT-2.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Te...item3369008071

FAT-3.jpg

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by mdschulze

This was my thought exactly! I can picture 3-4 guys sitting around the table with a couple of beers knocking out autographs and laughing about everyone they're screwing. I wonder how much $$ these guys have scammed out of people since they started? This pisses me off to the extreme to find worthless people out there who screw people out of their money, regardless of what industry it's in. What do you do to stop these guys? You and several others have written informative articles that can be easily accessible on the internet, but now what? It's frustrating to see this info out there with no rebuttals from the guilty and no pending criminal charges.

Very true, Mike. The people who create this garbage and those that sell that garbage have absolutely no conscience.

[oriolesbb6]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Mike,
NOW up for auction on CC

It's an 8x10 with an incredibly important inscription.


This one is 11x17 and came from the Iscariot collection.




Mark

Holy Sh*t thats funny