Very, very, interesting...

[Leon]

Originally Posted by E93

I am not an autograph collector so I have no dog in this, but I missed the part where Nash presented any evidence. I am not doubting there are forgeries out there - just saying Nash does nothing here but try to set off alarms IMHO. I take everything that guy says with a grain of salt. Hasn't he been accused of some of the largest memorabilia fraud in the hobby? His Hall of Shame website seems like the pot calling the kettle black.
JimB
P.S. I have not read through this whole thread so excuse me if anyone has already said this.

Good points Jim. I too have some issue with the "pot" here but, as has been said, if the forensic experts deem (prove) the signatures bad it won't be who turned them in but what they are, that matters. Actually, I feel most bad for the collectors in all of this. They are the ones falling short on the leap they made, all the while relying on experts to help pave their way. I have a feeling PSA and the other TPA's will rely on their wording in their certs to not be legally liable though. I would guess there will eventually be some court cases about this so the lawyers might be the winners in the long run. It will be interesting how this plays out.

[19cbb]

Pots, kettles ... whatever.

Forgers, authenticators and auction houses have been profiteering for years and it's about time they are held accountable.

An organized criminal ring? It could be possible in an industry where everybody knows your name [insert Cheers theme song] ... but that will be up to authorities to determine.

[RichardSimon]

There are forensic examiners who do excellent work.
Ten years ago I was the instigator of an investigation by the NYC Dept of Consumer Affairs into bogus autographs on ebay.
I filed a formal complaint with the Dept of Consumer Affairs.
A DCA attorney and investigator were assigned to the case.
Two autographs were purchased from ebay sellers upon my direction (both purported autographs were of Christy Mathewson).
The autographs were submitted to the forensic examiners of the NYC Police Dept. along with exemplars which I supplied.
After their examinations they concluded that the autographs were indeed forgeries.
The findings were forwarded to the FBI (they were in the midst of Operation Bullpen at the time) and to ebay. About a dozen ebay sellers were removed as a result of this investigation.
My feelings are that Peter Nash will be working with forensic examiners who can also do excellent work. I look with interest to their findings.
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I am happy to repeat this from an earlier post: that I feel ebay is doing excellent work now in having the site policed and that they are promptly responding to reports of forgeries and crooked sellers.