FBI BUSTS TRULY UNIQUE AND EBAY SELLERS
Richard
autographs, the continuing result of Operation Bullpen, the five-year
investigation that has largely turned its attention from brick-and-mortar shops
to the Internet.
The latest announcements stemming from what can be called Operation Bullpen
Phase II include Truly Unique Collectibles, which was a large player in the
celebrity-autograph world. The announcements come almost exclusively from the
work of FBI agent Tim Fitzsimmons of the agency’s San Diego office, and all
charges come from the United States District Court for the Southern District of
California, which is in San Diego. None of the following people have been
convicted.
Truly Unique Collectibles: James Ferrazzano, owner and operator of Truly Unique
Collectibles, faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Ferrazzano is from White Plains, N.Y. Fitzsimmons said as far as he knows,
Truly Unique didn’t have real material for at least a year. It specialized in
entertainment autographs – celebrities such as musicians and movie stars. Its
products came with a Truly Unique certificate of authenticity. “There was
very little real material,” Fitzsimmons said. “At one time, years ago, he
did (have real autographs). But for numerous months, maybe even as long as a
year, I don’t believe there were any real items going out.” Fitzsimmons
said the forger has not yet been charged.
Mississippi couple: Guy and Denise Wallman of Pass Christian, Miss., were
charged with eight counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit
mail fraud. Fitzsimmons said the Wallmans used three eBay IDs. “There was a
small percentage of sports, but the vast majority was Hollywood stuff, and it
was almost exclusively 8-by-10s,” Fitzsimmons said. The forger hasn’t yet
been charged. The Wallmans’ certificates of authenticity included
Collectibles of Distinction, General Pictures, Stardust Collectibles and Royce
Galleries. Fitzsimmons said he doesn’t believe it’s possible to have a real
autograph with one of those four COAs.
Ohio State students: Kumba Ardabili and Jeffrey Coffman, each a student at Ohio
State, have been charged with one count each with conspiracy to commit mail
fraud. Ardabili and Coffman used the eBay ID jungleka98. That ID is no longer a
registered eBay ID.
Guntherthegreat: Robert Yancey Lawhorn of Galveston, Texas, is charged with one
count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. Lawhorn used the eBay ID
“guntherthegreat,” which has an eBay feedback total of 1,271.
Guntherthegreat had a wide variety of product across all sports and athletes.
Fitzsimmons anticipates at least 10-12 more people will be charged in the next
few months. In general, he’s pleased with the progress made in sports
autographs and he’s been concentrating on entertainment and celebrities of
late. “We’re definitely seeing fewer blatant, obvious forgeries in the
sporting realm,” he said, “whereas we’re seeing a lot of that in the
Hollywood and celebrities realms.” For more detail, see the Nov. 15 issue of
Sports Collectors Digest.
Dahoov2
I can think of 5 or 6 agregious sellers on there now.
Question: Where and how do you report forgeries...ie what does it
take for them to gain interest enough to investigate.
Todd F.
items from them with their COA, get together to sue them???
Todd F.
--
Todd's Autograph Arena
http://www.toddsautographarena.com
"Dahoov2" <dah...@my.pl> wrote in message
news:70rfrucdspk7nsvfp...@4ax.com...
Richard
especially that guy with the huge feedback.
Barefootmk
Todd F.
The FBI has charged another six people with crimes related to selling forged
autographs, the continuing result of Operation Bullpen, the five-year
investigation that has largely turned its attention from brick-and-mortar
shops
to the Internet.
The latest announcements stemming from what can be called Operation Bullpen
Phase II include Truly Unique Collectibles, which was a large player in the
celebrity-autograph world. The announcements come almost exclusively from
the
work of FBI agent Tim Fitzsimmons of the agency's San Diego office, and all
charges come from the United States District Court for the Southern District
of
California, which is in San Diego. None of the following people have been
convicted.
Truly Unique Collectibles: James Ferrazzano, owner and operator of Truly
Unique
Collectibles, faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Ferrazzano is from White Plains, N.Y. Fitzsimmons said as far as he knows,
Truly Unique didn't have real material for at least a year. It specialized
in
entertainment autographs - celebrities such as musicians and movie stars.
Its
products came with a Truly Unique certificate of authenticity. "There was
very little real material," Fitzsimmons said. "At one time, years ago, he
did (have real autographs). But for numerous months, maybe even as long as a
year, I don't believe there were any real items going out." Fitzsimmons
said the forger has not yet been charged.
Mississippi couple: Guy and Denise Wallman of Pass Christian, Miss., were
charged with eight counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to
commit
mail fraud. Fitzsimmons said the Wallmans used three eBay IDs. "There was a
small percentage of sports, but the vast majority was Hollywood stuff, and
it
was almost exclusively 8-by-10s," Fitzsimmons said. The forger hasn't yet
been charged. The Wallmans' certificates of authenticity included
Collectibles of Distinction, General Pictures, Stardust Collectibles and
Royce
Galleries. Fitzsimmons said he doesn't believe it's possible to have a real
autograph with one of those four COAs.
Ohio State students: Kumba Ardabili and Jeffrey Coffman, each a student at
Ohio
Barefootmk
Teresa
Collector magazine handles this, particularly where Truly Unique
Collectibles is involved. TUC used to be CPG Direct. TUC has been a
major advertiser in Autograph Collector (full-color, several-page
advertisements) for a long time. In April a poster here said they
weren't getting the items they had ordered from TUC. A visit to the
TUC website showed it had closed up shop. Even at that time, Autograph
Collector still had a display ad/link for TUC on its website. I
e-mailed Autograph Collector and asked why they had an ad for a
company that wasn't fulfilling orders (of course, they never
responded, but the ad did disappear eventually...as well as TUC's
spendy ads in Autograph Collector magazine).
Let's hope that Autograph Collector faces up to this one. I remember
going round-and-round on this subject with co-publisher Darrell
Talbert clear back in 1998. He claimed at that time they had no
"unresolved issues" with CPG Direct, which became Truly Unique
Collectibles, still headed by James Ferrazzano. I can dig up the old
articles if anyone is interested.
Teresa
rich...@aol.com (Richard) wrote in message news:<20021024083415...@mb-fk.aol.com>...
> The FBI has charged another six people with crimes related to selling forged
> autographs, the continuing result of Operation Bullpen, the five-year
> investigation that has largely turned its attention from brick-and-mortar shops
> to the Internet.
>
> The latest announcements stemming from what can be called Operation Bullpen
> Phase II include Truly Unique Collectibles, which was a large player in the
> celebrity-autograph world. The announcements come almost exclusively from the
> work of FBI agent Tim Fitzsimmons of the agency’s San Diego office, and all
> charges come from the United States District Court for the Southern District of
> California, which is in San Diego. None of the following people have been
> convicted.
>
> Truly Unique Collectibles: James Ferrazzano, owner and operator of Truly Unique
> Collectibles, faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
> Ferrazzano is from White Plains, N.Y. Fitzsimmons said as far as he knows,
> Truly Unique didn’t have real material for at least a year. It specialized in
> entertainment autographs – celebrities such as musicians and movie stars. Its
> products came with a Truly Unique certificate of authenticity. “There was
> very little real material,” Fitzsimmons said. “At one time, years ago, he
> did (have real autographs). But for numerous months, maybe even as long as a
> year, I don’t believe there were any real items going out.” Fitzsimmons
> said the forger has not yet been charged.
<snip>
Barry Robinson
was signed by the person who signed it? How can the FBI prove I didnt? I
think all you autograph sellers need to re-evaluate your business and find a
new line of work. The FBI has just shown you all that you are GUILTY UNTIL
PROVEN INNOCENT! Is it worth the risk?
Personally, the FBI is in the wrong here. Maybe those they busted have sold
fake autographs. But with Truly Unique Collectibles taking the fall, who's
next? Iconographs? YOU? Is the FBI going to go through the UCAA member
list and start busting them all?
I think as autograph collectors, we need to come up with a policy or means
to confirm autographs. Don't say that there already is, because the FBI is
taking down ANY and ALL autograph sellers! If you sell, you will be
investigated!
eBay is likely to ban sales of autographed items if this continues. Maybe
that's good, maybe that's bad.
Another thing, has the FBI even considered the mail fraud committed by the
studios such as Warner Brothers or Disney, etc? Lets say you write to Fox
for an autographed photo from Justin Berfield or Frankie Muniz. (just an
example). How do you know that the star actually signed it? They probably
didn't. Some receptionist or secretary probably forges their signatures
because of the huge amount of requests the star gets. THIS IS MAIL FRAUD!
My point is, unless YOU get the autograph IN PERSON, FACE TO FACE, you have
no clue whether its real or not! NOT ONE CLUE!
I only thank God that I haven't sold any autographed photos. The
autographed photos I have I obtained in person and will never be sold, but
passed down to future generations of my family.
Any comments? I think this recent STING OPERATION needs SERIOUS attention
in the autograph collectors world!
"Barefootmk" <baref...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20021026135030...@mb-ch.aol.com...
> thanks
www.AutographPros.com
recent case I am sure most will agree that it would have been "truly unique"
to see any of that company's signatures match up to known in person
examples. When a seller gets to a scale such as TRULY UNIQUE and every
product or the great majority are all showing significant variations from
known in person signatures then it's a huge red flag to everyone. Granted,
if Barry Robinson lists his Carmen Electra autograph on ebay their is not a
proven method to prove you are selling an authentic signature. HOWEVER, if
you are listing several Carmen Electras there are ways to prove they are
fraudulent. In the last FBI sting (Operation Foul Ball), surveillance
cameras were used to reveal conversations of the forgers laughing about what
people were buying from them and I would guess video proof of them actually
forging was included. Additional proof could be taken from when/where you
bought your unsigned items from. If you just bought your Carmen Electra
photos this week and started listing them as signed and Carmen Electra
turned out to be in the Bahamas, again, further evidence could be produced.
Lastly the stars themselves got involved with the FBI to point out which
were real and which were fake. I am sure there are other unknown uses of
forensics, etc. involved.
I'm not expert on the case however I think it is one of the greatest pieces
of news this NG has seen and find it hard to believe anyone would want to
stand in the way of such great progress. It's about time they moved out of
sports and into Music/Celebrity as the market is flooded with forgeries on
ebay in those areas. What I do find disheartening is that you would even
include "ICONOGRAPHS" in your statement. They are a great company and your
comments may have misled some to think they were involved some how which
clearly they are not as REAL autograph sellers such as them have nothing to
worry about. Furthermore your comments about Warner Brothers, etc are
lacking reason. You are asking them for something for nothing when writing
for an autograph. They have every right to send you 0, or whatever they
chose. Had you paid for that autograph with them and they sent a forgery,
then possibly a case for mail fraud could be considered.
--
Michael Kasmar
Be sure to visit our newly redesigned website.
We will be adding new items all month long so keep checking the "What's New
Page".
www.AutographPros.com (a metamorphosis in the making)
Registered Dealer # 237 of the UACC
Barry Robinson <bvrob...@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:GPTu9.2247$z5.15...@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
Ron Burnstein
to get excited. They're taking down people who sell large quantities of
impossible autographs.
"Barry Robinson" <bvrob...@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:GPTu9.2247$z5.15...@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
Richard
against these people? EVERY person who was indicted in the first wave of 30
indictments, PLED GUILTY. They did not even want to go to trial. Do you think
the FBI would waste their time if they did not have REAL EVIDENCE? I have
talked to Tim Fitzsimmons of the FBI on a number of occasions. Believe me, he
is dedicated to cleaning up this business and does not take it lightly. He is
doing the job properly. Barry, your logic escapes me. They are hardly arresting
everyone who sells autographs. They are arresting those against whom they have
MAJOR EVIDENCE.