Governmental Agencies, Law Enforcement

December 31, 2017 By Jason DeBord

12-Year Prison Sentence for $23 Million Sports Memorabilia Fraud Scheme

As reported in the Chicago Tribune (“Collector given 12 years in prison for selling phony sports memorabilia“), John Rogers of Arkansas received a long sentence following his 45-minute statement to the court asking for leniency, at one point stating “I don’t deserve a break, but I’m asking you for one”. Rogers plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in March. Judge Dirkin said his fraud scheme was “breathtaking” and that Rogers “literally told thousands of lies to honest people to have them part with their money”. [Read more…]

December 31, 2017 By Jason DeBord

KTNV13 Call For Action “Digging Into The Murky World of Memorabilia” Video Report

KTNV13 Call For Action broadcast this report on autographed and collectible memorabilia on their local ABC affiliate station in Las Vegas, and has also made the video available on their official website. The story discusses autographs and collector Steve Comolli’s purchases of memorabilia from Antiquities International in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The report claims he purchased $20,000 worth of autographed memorabilia – “most” of it from Antiquities – and then tried to sell through Julien’s Auctions and Heritage Auction Galleries and that they “could not authenticate” what he wanted to sell through them. [Read more…]

January 27, 2017 By Jason DeBord

California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria Introduces AB 228 To Rectify California Assembly Bill AB 1570’s Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation

It was nearly a year ago to the day that I wrote about California Assemblymember Ling Ling Chang’s California Assembly Bill AB 1570, created as anti-fraud legislation. At that time, I wrote a lengthy analysis of the bill, pointing out problematic facets of the then proposed legislation that Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last October. Once law, other businesses and mainstream media outlets began to complain about key elements of the law that would appear to have some consequences not anticipated by those who create it and enacted it into law. Ling Ling Chang lost her bid for a State Senate seat in November, so there was uncertainty as to who would take up the responsibility of fixing the problems with the law. It would appear that Assemblymember Todd Gloria of the 78th District (serving Coronado, Del Mar, Imperial Beach, San Diego and Solana Beach) has come forward to attempt to create a follow-up bill to resolve some of the issues that critics have identified, in the form of Assembly Bill AB 228. [Read more…]

October 15, 2016 By Jason DeBord

Los Angeles Times Article Picks Apart New Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570)

As a follow-up to my prior articles on the topic of the new Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570) , Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times has published his own piece highlighting issues with the law and real world impacts on California businesses, independent bookstores in particular. It is a great read and illustrates the disconnect between lawmakers and businesses in California, regardless of the pro-consumer intentions of the legislation. [Read more…]

October 3, 2016 By Jason DeBord

Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570) Now Law

Back in January, I wrote about Mark Hamill & Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang’s efforts to pass autograph anti-fraud legislation in California in the form of Assembly Bill AB 1570. California Governor Jerry Brown signed this into law last month. While I applauded the intention and efforts behind the proposed law back in January, I outlined a series of issues with it. Apparently, I am not alone with my concerns, as Brian Doherty’s piece on Reason.com also lists some problems with this new law as written. [Read more…]

February 10, 2016 By Jason DeBord

Former Mastro Auctions President Doug Allen Sentenced To 57 Months In Federal Prison

As mentioned last week, Federal prosecutors were seeking a four year prison sentence for Doug Allen, the former President of disgraced sports memorabilia auction house Mastro Auctions. U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman went further than that in the case of shill bidding and fake memorabilia, sentencing Doug Allen to 57 months, a much stiffer sentence than the 20 months co-defendant Bill Mastro is serving. Allen attempted to obstruct the FBI investigation after learning of it, which would seem to have earned him a longer prison sentence. [Read more…]

February 3, 2016 By Jason DeBord

Daily News Updates Their Ongoing Investigation on Mastro Auctions Fraud Case; Prosecutors Seek Four Year Prison Sentence for Doug Allen

Michael O’Keeffe with the New York Daily News continues to chronicle the ongoing saga surrounding Mastro Auctions and the Justice Department’s prosecution of principals from the sports memorabilia auction house, based on the FBI investigation that began in 2007. Yesterday, prosecutor filed papers with the Chicago federal court seeking a 57 month prison term for former Mastro Auctions president, Doug Allen, as a result of his “outright contempt” for law enforcement. [Read more…]

January 29, 2016 By Jason DeBord

Mark Hamill & Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang Working on Autograph Anti-Fraud Legislation (California Assembly Bill AB 1570)

Following Mark Hamill‘s “hands on” approach to combating autograph fraud last month (see Revenge of the Jedi: Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) Uses Twitter To Strike Down Memorabilia Fraud), the actor has now teamed up with California Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar), who had already begun work on AB 1570, which would require certificates of authenticity (COAs) for autographed memorabilia sold in California and/or to Californians. I’m particularly interested in these developments as I’ve been writing about the mechanics about COAs and issues regarding guarantees and warranties as well, and of course the rampant fraud in the marketplace as a result of criminals using worthless COAs as a tool to sell fraudulent memorabilia. [Read more…]