Subpoenas???

[cohibasmoker]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/mo...tors_co-2.html

Nice find. I really liked the paragraph that read,

"This is part of an active federal investigation," said a source familiar with the probe. "I think they came to the National because they knew everybody would be here, all under one roof. It's like shooting ducks in a barrel."

Jim

[Eric]

O'Keeffe made reference to the UNC Michael Jordan shooting shirt at Mastro. For those who don't remember, here is O'Keeffe's story about it from a year ago...

There is only one Jordan

Auction jersey revealed as fraud

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Sunday, August 19th 2007, 4:00 AM

It was a hell of a party, according to the press release issued by Mastro Auctions. About 300 sports collectible movers and shakers, many in town for the National Sports Collectors Convention, bid on 83 coveted pieces at Mastro's inaugural live auction, held Aug. 3 at the House of Blues in Cleveland.

A collection of rare T215 Pirate cigarette cards sold for $960,000, a record for a set of cards. Yankee manager Miller Huggins' 1927 World Series ring went for $204,000. One collector even spent $192,000 on a T206 Honus Wagner card in poor condition. But the event wasn't just about conspicuous consumption; Mastro Auctions also raised $20,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

"It's a terrific exclamation point to an already spectacular evening," Mastro Auctions president Doug Allen said in the press release.

The hangover from the event, however, just won't go away. One item, advertised as a Michael Jordan North Carolina warm-up shirt, sold for $11,000 even though questions had been raised about its authenticity well before the auction took place. Collectors cried foul on Game-Used Forum.com, a memorabilia Web site, and began investigating the shirt. Mastro Auctions voided the sale and sent the jersey back to the authentication service that raised the initial doubts for further review.

But the controversy over the "Jordan" shirt appears far from over: It has added new pressure to calls for greater regulation and standards for the dog-eat-dog world of sports memorabilia. The shirt has also attracted the interest of the FBI, which as the Daily News reported last month, has already begun an investigation into business practices at Mastro Auctions, sports memorabilia's largest auction house.

To prepare for the live auction, Mastro employees sent the shirt and other items to Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services, one of the hobby's leading authentication services. MEARS examined the shirt on July 1, and concluded that while it appeared to be a North Carolina shooting shirt from the 1980s, it did not belong to Jordan.

When the shirt was placed over a light table, it was apparent that another name had been removed from the back and replaced with "JORDAN." The letters also seemed to be made of different materials than other patches on the piece, according to the MEARS work sheet.

"The Michael Jordan shirt we evaluated did not start its life as a Michael Jordan shirt," MEARS authenticator Troy Kinunen said.

MEARS' opinion was seconded by the University of North Carolina; officials there told the Daily News that Jordan still has his warm-up shirt.

Mastro Auctions, however, submitted the shirt to another authenticator, Lou Lampson; the auction catalogue said the shirt was accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Lampson but made no mention of MEARS' evaluation or opinion. In the days before the auction, Game-Used Forum members posted numerous comments about the conflicting opinions; one member said he E-mailed Mastro's Allen about the jersey but Allen did not respond. The shirt received seven bids and sold for $11,000, according to Mastro Auctions Web site.

"If Mastro did not inform the winning bidder of MEARS' findings, then, that is damn shady," one forum member wrote.

A week after the auction, another Game-Used Forum member said he had been contacted by an ACC basketball fan who said stains on the "Jordan" shirt looked remarkably similar to stains on a shirt he owned for several years. The ACC fan, a collector named Jim Reed, told the Daily News he had purchased the shirt from Ranzino Smith, who joined the Tar Heels in 1985, the year after Jordan left school and was drafted by the Chicago Bulls.

Reed said he sold the shirt to Eric Inselberg, a New Jersey dealer/collector, late last year, but he is convinced it is the same item Mastro sold this month. "This thing was in my display room for three years," Reed said. "I know my shirt."

Inselberg told the News he sold the shirt at a Westchester memorabilia show in January. Inselberg claimed he didn't know the buyer and since the buyer paid cash, he had no way to contact him.

Allen told the Daily News before the auction that he was not aware that MEARS had doubts about the jersey; he did not return calls last week. But in an e-mail to Kinunen that was posted on the Game-Used Forum, he said Inselberg was not the consigner. The shirt was one of the last items sent to MEARS and Allen blamed deadline pressures for the screw-up.

"I had gotten the message from my guys that you 'were not comfortable signing off on it' so I told them to go ahead and run it with the Lou Lampson letter since he was comfortable issuing an LOA on the shirt. Unfortunately we never received your 'letter' which explained the details of the name change and the reason you were not comfortable opining on the shirt. If I had known this I would have immediately pulled it from the auction," Allen wrote.

"The first time I had been informed about potential issues with the shirt was on August 2nd when a reporter inquired about the letter you issued. At the time I was not aware a letter detailing findings had been issued and I notified him of that fact. When I got back to the office after the National I was finally able to review your letter and review the concerns expressed on the Game-Used Forum."

But by the time Allen's E-mail had been posted on the Game-Used Forum, the FBI had already begun investigating the sale of the jersey. The bureau's Chicago office - whose "Operation Foul Ball" smashed a multistate autograph forgery ring in the '90s - has already interviewed an authentication-service executive and two collectors about the jersey, according to sources.

As the Daily News reported in July, Chicago-based investigators have already questioned Bill Brandt, the president of Development Specialists Inc., the company hired by the state of Ohio to liquidate coins and collectibles purchased with state money by Tom Noe, the Republican Party official convicted last year of stealing from a $50 million workers compensation fund and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Noe had purchased thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia from Mastro, Brandt and Ohio law-enforcement officials have said. The investigators have also questioned two hobby executives who asked not to be identified.

An FBI official said he could not confirm or deny an investigation is underway, but regardless of what happens, the incident has left a bad taste in some collectors' mouths.

"I saw this warm-up at the National and thought it was awesome," one collector wrote on the Game-Used Forum. "I was gonna have a friend bid on it for me ... thank goodness that I didn't."

[mvandor]

One quote worth quoting:

"This needed to be done a long time ago.""

[trsent]

Do the Feds think they can convict an auction house such as Mastro for selling item they know are not genuine? Won't they have to prove they knew of issues with the item or accepted a bad item or altered an item? I know they also brought up shill bidding, but won't the Feds have to prove Mastro knowingly did something wrong?

At the same time, if the Feds were looking for a company who has openly has bought "game issued" items and sold them as game used, isn't there an auction house out there that would fit this description and would be easily prey for them? Maybe an auction house that has a history buying on eBay and then altering an item to make it better or even game used for sale?

I know, Mr. Okeeffe has his lists who he doesn't like in our industry, but I think Mastro may be the wrong target if the Feds want to make a point there are better subjects.

[jdr3]

Joel,

It appears from your post that perhaps you are not familiar with the Mastro controversy from last August. If you had read the article Eric had added just a few posts before yours, you would have a better understanding of the situation. Here is an excerpt:

To prepare for the live auction, Mastro employees sent the shirt and other items to Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services, one of the hobby's leading authentication services. MEARS examined the shirt on July 1, and concluded that while it appeared to be a North Carolina shooting shirt from the 1980s, it did not belong to Jordan.

When the shirt was placed over a light table, it was apparent that another name had been removed from the back and replaced with "JORDAN." The letters also seemed to be made of different materials than other patches on the piece, according to the MEARS work sheet.

"The Michael Jordan shirt we evaluated did not start its life as a Michael Jordan shirt," MEARS authenticator Troy Kinunen said.

MEARS' opinion was seconded by the University of North Carolina; officials there told the Daily News that Jordan still has his warm-up shirt.

So here we have conclusive proof that Mastro did know that what they were selling was not what it was purported to be, which answers your first question, that the FBI DOES KNOW Mastro had fore knowledge that one of their items had been altered and still tried to cover this up and sell the jersey in question for $11,000. If defrauding someone out of that much money is not a crime, I don't know what is.

You mention that there are others the FBI should be going after. Can you name them, or have you tried to help fellow collectors by alerting the FBI to this situation?

-Jim Reed

[allstarsplus]

Jim - You should be commended for the work and assistance you provided to bring this Jordan jersey issue to the Forum and possibly to a Court of Law!

You may have also read this week that the FBI solved the Anthrax case (almost 7 years later) so as they say, the FBI always gets their man.

Just the rumors of subpoenas should scare some people straight.

You have to love that the USPS was in tow as that interstate shipment case is much easier to prove.

Does anyone know if "LL" got a subpoena?

I spoke to my friend Bill Huggins of Huggins & Scott Auctions last night and he wasn't even aware that the FBI was at The National, and as I told him that doesn't surprise me as he is as honest as they come so they wouldn't be knocking on his door. As Bill is growing his game used side of the auction house, he is doing it the right way.

Here is my observation and opinions on 2 other auction houses that used to be mentioned here all the time in our "Hall of SHAMe". I think in recent years thanks to getting continually outed on this Forum they have slowly cleaned up their act, but the Feds can go back 3 years with the statute of limitations so they can spend hours, weeks and months using the Forum as a resource. Rudy's red circles make great fieldwork!

About a year and 1/2 ago I had a discussion about a Florida auction house with Federal Prosecutor Jay Trezevant. I wonder if that Florida auction house is part of a larger investigation that was being built against many in the industry.

You have to love this quote

"The FBI has been walking the convention floor," said American Memorabilia president Victor Moreno. "You can feel the tension."

[cohibasmoker]

Do the Feds think they can convict an auction house such as Mastro for selling item they know are not genuine? Won't they have to prove they knew of issues with the item or accepted a bad item or altered an item? I know they also brought up shill bidding, but won't the Feds have to prove Mastro knowingly did something wrong?

At the same time, if the Feds were looking for a company who has openly has bought "game issued" items and sold them as game used, isn't there an auction house out there that would fit this description and would be easily prey for them? Maybe an auction house that has a history buying on eBay and then altering an item to make it better or even game used for sale?

I know, Mr. Okeeffe has his lists who he doesn't like in our industry, but I think Mastro may be the wrong target if the Feds want to make a point there are better subjects.

Joel, At this point, I don't think we can assume anything let alone assume there is just one target. We do not even know if the papers being served at the National are in fact subpoenas or a “target letter”. Has anyone actually seen any of the documents? We all have questions about the investigation and I am sure that all of our questions will be answered in the very near future.

With that said, I am sure the FBI is pretty far along in their investigation. Whatever the FBI is handing out on the National floor, either subpoenas or “target letters”, either of these documents may be an additional avenue to broaden their investigation or to simply dot their "I's" and cross their "t's".

However, if you have some additional information that may be helpful in the investigation, I am sure the door at the FBI is open and they would be more than happy to hear from you.

Jim

[trsent]

Joel,

It appears from your post that perhaps you are not familiar with the Mastro controversy from last August. If you had read the article Eric had added just a few posts before yours, you would have a better understanding of the situation. Here is an excerpt:

To prepare for the live auction, Mastro employees sent the shirt and other items to Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services, one of the hobby's leading authentication services. MEARS examined the shirt on July 1, and concluded that while it appeared to be a North Carolina shooting shirt from the 1980s, it did not belong to Jordan.

When the shirt was placed over a light table, it was apparent that another name had been removed from the back and replaced with "JORDAN." The letters also seemed to be made of different materials than other patches on the piece, according to the MEARS work sheet.

"The Michael Jordan shirt we evaluated did not start its life as a Michael Jordan shirt," MEARS authenticator Troy Kinunen said.

MEARS' opinion was seconded by the University of North Carolina; officials there told the Daily News that Jordan still has his warm-up shirt.

So here we have conclusive proof that Mastro did know that what they were selling was not what it was purported to be, which answers your first question, that the FBI DOES KNOW Mastro had fore knowledge that one of their items had been altered and still tried to cover this up and sell the jersey in question for $11,000. If defrauding someone out of that much money is not a crime, I don't know what is.

You mention that there are others the FBI should be going after. Can you name them, or have you tried to help fellow collectors by alerting the FBI to this situation?

-Jim Reed

Jim, please do not assume what I have or have not read. I am sorry I missed what you have brought to my attention. Your comments did remind me of an Atlanta Braves jersey I questioned Mastro about and was told that since I was not a registered bidder they would not answer my questions about this item that I couldn't style match. I believe there is a thread about this jersey I questioned somewhere on this forum.

I am sorry if I missed obvious facts that you have cleared up.

If I wanted to name any company I would have named them. If you look over the history of this discussion forum, a name may be clear to you.

[Eric]

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...nal-crowd.html

[David]

Subpoenas are often given to witnesses and innocent people with info-- so being subpoenaed doesn't automatically mean a person did anything wrong.