NBC-4 in Southern California have broadcast a report on their news program and published an accompanying story on their official site looking into claims made by third parties that items offered for sale by Julien’s Auctions, sourced from Michael Jackson’s costume designer Michael Bush, feature Michael Jackson autographs that are not authentic. [Read more…]
As the latest significant update to this ongoing high profile memorabilia auction house fraud scandal, the lead journalists covering the story for the New York Daily News today reports that William Mastro of Mastro Auctions will be changing his plea to guilty on one fraud count, and will admit that he “altered the world’s most valuable trading card, a Honus Wagner T206 that has fetched millions of dollars in a series of high-profile transactions”. It’s last sale was to Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who paid $2.8 million for the baseball card. Mastro originally purchased the card for $25,000. [Read more…]
The Chicago Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have published a press release update regarding the ongoing investigation of alleged sports memorabilia fraud involving former Mastro Auction executives. Prosecutors claim that William Boehn, the Information Technology Director, made false statements to FBI agents. According to the FBI press release, the memorabilia auction house executives “were indicted on fraud charges for allegedly rigging auctions through a series of deceptive practices, including so-called “shill-bidding,” designed to inflate prices paid by bidders and to protect the interests of consignors and sellers at the expense of unwitting bidders.” [Read more…]
This is an update to the ongoing series of articles into various claims and charges of fraud in the posters, one sheets, and lobby cards art market that have rocked the collectibles industry over the past two and a half years. Today, per reports from Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the Athens Banner-Herald, and other mainstream media sources, Kerry Haggard was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon to six years and six months in federal prison. The court also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1.38 million dollars. [Read more…]
As reported on last year (see “eBay Entertainment Memorabilia Dealer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges in U.S. District Court“), eBay entertainment memorabilia dealer David Bruce Shyrock plead guilty to fraud charges in federal after defrauding over 1,200 eBay users out of nearly $175,000 by selling memorabilia with forged autographs on the popular online auction website. Today, the Joplin, Missouri man was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to eight years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Shyrock to pay $174,894 in restitution to his victims. [Read more…]
Per Reuters and other sources, eBay entertainment memorabilia dealer David Bruce Shyrock plead guilty to fraud charges in federal court today. The Missouri resident faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $500,000 for a variety of charges, including defrauding over 1,200 eBay users out of nearly $175,000 by selling memorabilia with forged autographs on the popular online auction website. [Read more…]
TMZ today reports that auction house Profiles in History have been sent a letter by Lavely & Singer, litigation counsel for Sylvester Stallone, regarding Lot 1069 from their “Hollywood Auction 44” catalog, published yesterday. Per the report and copy of the letter published by TMZ, Stallone’s attorney claims that the “pair of screen-used Sylvester Stallone ‘Rocky Balboa’ boxing gloves” attributed to Rocky (1976) are not authentic. TMZ also reports that a Profiles in History “rep tells us the company is VERY confident the gloves are legit“. [Read more…]
Earlier this year, a story broke about the discovery that a genuine document produced by Abraham Lincoln had been altered in order to make it more historically significant. While the identification and preservation of historic documents is outside the scope of the same in the entertainment/popular culture memorabilia field, the story is instructive none the less, and highlights the ease with which genuine material can be altered to make it more important and valuable. [Read more…]