Dealers sue PCGS for malicious prosecution
Steve Spradlin
Allege PCGS lawsuit suit against them ‘malicious’
By Steve Roach-Coin World Staff
Article first published in 2011-04-18, News section of Coin World
Attorneys for coin dealers Silvano DiGenova, Greg Krill and Richard
Wesselink have filed a complaint for malicious prosecution against
Collectors Universe and several of its attorneys.
The suit was filed in California’s Orange County Superior Court on
March 24. It alleges that Collectors Universe — the parent company of
Professional Coin Grading Service — and others including attorneys
Keith Attlesey, Suzanne Storm, Armen Vartian and Attlesey & Storm LLC,
violated California law by initiating a malicious prosecution.
The suit also includes Defendants Does 1 through 50, which allows the
complaint to be amended to include more defendants.
Collectors Universe sued DiGenova, Krill, Wesselink and several others
in May 2010, alleging that the dealers worked together to violate
state and federal law including the Lanham Act, by submitting for
grading and subsequently trading “doctored” coins.
That lawsuit was dismissed on Dec. 13, 2010, and the complaint alleges
that during that hearing, “the Court articulated its suspicion that
the Lanham Act claim was simply a tool used by CU and the Attorney
Defendants to allow them to file and pursue its claims in federal
court.”
The suit alleges that CU never served the original complaint or the
first amended complaint on any of the defendants, “Despite the fact
that CU and the Attorney Defendants made public the CU Action through
media outlets prominent in the Numismatic Community.” Because of this,
the complaint alleges that when CU filed a motion for leave to file
its second amended complaint, none of the defendants had been served
and, therefore, they did not appear in court to oppose the action.
In the cause of action for malicious prosecution, the complaint
alleges that CU’s action alleging violations of the Lanham Act against
Wesselink in the original complaint and in the subsequent first and
second amended complaints against Wesselink, Krill and DiGenova, was
brought without probable cause.
The lawsuit states that CU and its attorneys “initiated the CU Action
with malice, intending to disparage publicly Plaintiffs’ respective
reputations and businesses and intended that the litigation have a
chilling effect on others in the numismatic community who conducted
business with CU.”
The suit alleges that the three coin dealers have suffered damages —
including but not limited to — attorney’s fees, emotional distress and
damage to reputation in an amount greater than $100,000. They seek a
jury trial and damages, an award of punitive damages “in an amount
sufficient to deter the wrongful conduct of CU and each of the
attorney defendants,” and legal costs
Frank Provasek
people are
hesitant to send in their coins because if the grading companies think
they are
"doctored" they will be seized as "evidence."