NY Daily News: FBI at National again

[Eric]

Something to keep an eye on. If anyone is there, give updates... http://twitter.com/MOKNYDN/status/231166180809900032

From @MOKNYDN: We're hearing the FBI is at the National Sports Collectors Convention yet again this year. More indictments to come? http://soc.li/wq9Txfm

[Eric]

From Twitter..

https://twitter.com/NYDNSportsITeam/status/231524655633145858

@NYDNSportsITeam
FBI agent has been seen at the National Sports Collectors Convention. Several sources say agent spent a lot of time at PSA booth yesterday

[Eric]

FBI seeks Doug Allen’s help, a week after indicting* him, to locate missing 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings baseball card*
Allen's company, Legendary Auctions, estimated the card could sell for as much as $50,000.

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012, 5:20 PM
UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012, 5:55 PM

ROBERTS, MATTHEW,,FREELANCE

Doug Allen helps the FBI recover a Cincinnati Red Stockings trading card from 1869.
BALTIMORE — Doug Allen must think the feds are schizophrenic. Last week they indicted the sports memorabilia executive on 14 counts of mail and wire fraud. This week they asked him to help return a rare and valuable baseball card that had been stolen decades ago to the New York Public Library.

Allen says he was at his booth at the National Collectors Convention on Thursday when he received a call from a New York-based FBI agent who was curious about an 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings trading card distributed by Peck & Snyder, a New York sporting goods store.

The card, one of the first mass-produced sports collectibles, was supposed to be Lot No. 35 in the auction that Allen's company, Legendary Auctions, conducted later that evening. Legendary estimated the card could sell for as much as $50,000.

"He told me he was conducting an investigation and that the card may have been part of a theft from the New York Public Library," Allen says of the agent who approached him.

The agent asked Allen to check the back of the card: Did it have a blue stamp that indicated it had once belonged to the library?

Allen says the stamp wasn't apparent to the naked eye, although he could see blue ink on the back. There was also what he calls "an abrasion," as if someone had tried to erase something from the card.

But the stamp was clearly visible when he put the card under an ultraviolet light machine used to test the authenticity of autographs. "It lit up like a Christmas tree," Allen says.

Allen says he called the New York FBI agent back and reported what he had found. When agents from the bureau's Washington office showed up at his booth, he shared his findings with them, too.

Allen says he pulled the card from his auction and will return it to the consigner, who has indicated he will return it to the library.

"The New York Public Library is extremely grateful to law enforcement officials for their relentless dedication to this case," says NYPL spokeswoman Angela Montefinise. "We look forward to the return of the return of this historic artifact to our collections, where it is accessible to our patrons."

Allen declined to identify the consigner but said he does not believe he is suspected of wrongdoing. Allen said the seller bought the card through an art and antiques auction eight to 10 years ago.

"I think the consigner is an innocent guy," Allen says.

It's not clear when the card was stolen or who took it from the library. The FBI has recovered numerous items that were stolen from the library, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and other institutions before security safeguards were put in place in the 1980s.

"The FBI will continue to investigate thefts from the library's Spalding Collection," says New York FBI spokesman Jim Margolin.

Allen declined to discuss the indictment that was handed down by a federal grand jury in Chicago last week accusing Allen and two other former Mastro Auctions executives, Bill Mastro and Mark Theotikos, of fraud. The company, once the nation's premiere sports memorabilia auction house, closed in 2009 in the midst of a wide-ranging FBI investigation into fraud in the hobby.

All three men have entered pleas of not guilty. Mastro's attorney has said he expects the case against his client will be resolved without a trial, indicating that he is cooperating with authorities.

Allen faces 14 counts of wire and mail fraud. His lawyer has said he will contest the charges.

The FBI agent who led the investigation into Mastro Auctions and other sports memorabilia companies was seen questioning industry executives this week at the National, which began on Wednesday. Federal investigators have attended every National since 2008, questioning officials from auction houses, card-grading companies, authentication services and other memorabilia firms. One dealer was arrested and led away in handcuffs bay federal agent at last year's National in Chicago.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/fbi-seeks-doug-allen-a-week-indicting-locate-missing-1869-cincinnati-red-stockings-baseball-card-article-1.1128528#ixzz22X6ElDzS