Subpoenas issued to dealers with ties to Grey Flannel Auctions

[Eric]

From NY Daily News

Subpoenas issued to memorabilia dealers with ties to Grey Flannel Auctions
The prosecutors heading the investigation want to find out if the Long Island auction house sold fraudulent sports jerseys to collectors, sources told the Daily News.

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 6:09 PM

A Chicago grand jury investigating fraud in sports memorabilia sent subpoenas earlier this year to dealers who have done business with Long Island's Grey Flannel Auctions, according to several industry sources.

The prosecutors leading the investigation want to determine if the Westhampton auction house had sold fraudulent sports jerseys to unsuspecting collectors, the sources told the Daily News. The subpoenaed records may show that Grey Flannel officials inflated the historical significance and monetary value of jerseys they obtained from the dealers.

"I think it is safe to say that they are looking at Grey Flannel," said an attorney for one dealer who requested anonymity to protect his client's identity.

A spokesman for the United States Attorney in Chicago declined to comment. Grey Flannel president Richard Russek did not return calls for comment.

The subpoenas stem from the seven-year investigation into fraud in sports memorabilia conducted by the Chicago FBI and other federal agencies. Several hobby executives, including one-time memorabilia king Bill Mastro, have been indicted as a result of the investigation.

Mastro Auctions was once the largest in sports memorabilia, but it was shut down in 2009 after Mastro and other company executives were indicted on fraud charges. Mastro, who was accused of shill bidding and altering the world's most expensive baseball card — the $2.8 million T206 Honus Wagner — pleaded guilty to one count of fraud last year. Mastro has agreed to cooperate with the feds as they prosecute his former colleagues, Doug Allen and Mark Theotikos, and he will be sentenced after those cases are resolved.

Six memorabilia dealers were indicted on fraud charges in 2011 as a result of the FBI investigation, and five of them pleaded guilty. Prosecutors dropped charges against a sixth dealer, Eric Inselberg of New Jersey, in 2013 after his lawyers claimed New York Giants employees and other witnesses had lied to federal agents and the Illinois grand jury that indicted Inselberg. Inselberg sued the Giants and Eli Manning in January, claiming the team and the quarterback sold bogus "game-worn" jerseys, helmets and other fake collectible to unsuspecting customers.

In January, Chicago-based agents were among the federal law enforcement officers who raided and searched the Arkansas home and office of memorabilia dealer John Rogers, who owns one of the world's largest photo archives.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/suboenas-dealers-ties-grey-flannel-auctions-article-1.1783499

[danesei@yahoo.com]

All of this publicity will probably draw attention to the hobby, but it probably is bad for values if people constantly hear that auction houses and memorabilia dealers were over-inflating values on sales.

[Phil316]

all I can say is it is about time GF got looked into. This has been long overdue. Every auction they hold has forged items. You mention it to them and they always have an excuse to keep the auction running.:rolleyes:

[BU54CB]

Interesting, surprised there's not more comments on this.

[PAC]

Interesting, surprised there's not more comments on this.

Ignorance is bliss. Lots of members with thousands of dollars worth of GF merchandise in the closet who would prefer this thread just go unnoticed.

[BU54CB]

Ignorance is bliss. Lots of members with thousands of dollars worth of GF merchandise in the closet who would prefer this thread just go unnoticed.

I had the same thought, unfortunately another potential black eye for the memorabilia hobby.

I watched their show and never liked their attitude toward the hobby, and was amazed by their nonchalance when they handled the items they were sent.

[slats7]

It's about time somebody investigated those crooks. I warned them not to sell this jersey as an authentic Don Meredith (in reality it was a jersey from the early 1970s), but they ignored me and ripped off some poor sucker to the tune of $11K. Disgraceful.

http://catalog.greyflannelauctions.com/lot-23578.aspx

[Phil316]

Ignorance is bliss. Lots of members with thousands of dollars worth of GF merchandise in the closet who would prefer this thread just go unnoticed.

Exactly right.

[Chess2899]

I think you will see closer scrutiny of specific auction houses.
There are a couple bomb shells pending.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

I think a big part of the problem is GF and JSA being connected at the hip due to the GF tv show. I wonder if Spence will also get investigated now.

[ChrisCavalier]

Okay, please help me understand something. I think the initial post on this thread was based on factual information from an article published by the New York Daily News. However, I did not see anything in the article that states Grey Flannel has already been found guilty of anything. Please correct me if I am wrong. In fact, I see the article as stating (bold added for emphasis):

"The prosecutors leading the investigation want to determine if the Westhampton auction house had sold fraudulent sports jerseys to unsuspecting collectors, the sources told the Daily News. The subpoenaed records may show that Grey Flannel officials inflated the historical significance and monetary value of jerseys they obtained from the dealers.

"I think it is safe to say that they are looking at Grey Flannel," said an attorney for one dealer who requested anonymity to protect his client's identity.

A spokesman for the United States Attorney in Chicago declined to comment. Grey Flannel president Richard Russek did not return calls for comment."

Please note that, over the years, I have done almost no business with Grey Flannel so I have no dog in this race. However, we do have a forum rule which states (again, bold added for emphasis):

In instances where a forum member is identifying an item in the hobby they believe to have issues, the poster should clearly state their findings in the form of an opinion and provide adequate rationale for why they believe there is an issue. When possible, we recommend that the poster questioning an item attempt to contact the seller of the item and allow at least 24 hours for the seller to reply before posting. This will prevent postings that may be generated based on misunderstandings of an item. In addition, while this forum is designed to help educate collectors, we will not allow comments that accuse entities in the hobby of participating in any form of criminal wrong-doing. Any posts suggesting criminal wrong-doing should be brought to the attention of the moderators immediately.

Please help me understand if I am reading this article correctly. If I am, I do not see anything that states Grey Flannel has already been found guilty of anything. Again, I am not saying they will or will not be found guilty in the future. I am simply interested in making sure the forum rules are followed in regards to people posting here.

Please let me know if I am missing something.

-Chris

[Phil316]

Chris,

If you search Grey Flannel in the search on this website you will see the reason this company is getting a second look. They consistently sell forged items. When called out they simply turn a blind eye to it. They believe they are above the law.

What you did not highlight was a very important part.

"The prosecutors leading the investigation want to determine if the Westhampton auction house had sold fraudulent sports jerseys to unsuspecting collectors"

So if a jersey is proven to be fake and it still is auctioned off then they would be guilty of selling fraudulent jerseys would they not?

You have pages and pages of items blatantly being called out yet the majority still are sold to unsuspecting buyers.

I understand the forum rules and do my best to respect them. Sorry if my posts come off accusing I just see the facts and they do not lie.

[ChrisCavalier]

Chris,

If you search Grey Flannel in the search on this website you will see the reason this company is getting a second look. They consistently sell forged items. When called out they simply turn a blind eye to it. They believe they are above the law.

What you did not highlight was a very important part.

"The prosecutors leading the investigation want to determine if the Westhampton auction house had sold fraudulent sports jerseys to unsuspecting collectors"
Hello Phillip,

Thank you for your post. However, while I understand people may have questions about items they have sold, I still do not see where they have yet been found guilty of selling forged items as you have stated. Again, I am not speculating on whether or not they will be found guilty. I am simply stating that has not been proven as of yet and, as such, these types of statements prior to any verdict would be in conflict with the forum rules.

To be very clear, the statement you highlighted reads (again bolding for emphasis):

"The prosecutors leading the investigation want to determine if the Westhampton auction house had sold fraudulent sports jerseys to unsuspecting collectors."

Again, this has yet to be proven and thus the reason that posts alleging this to be the case at this point will not be allowed.

Please let me know if that is clear.

Thanks,
Chris

[Phil316]

No problem the truth will come out.

[Roady]

Ignorance is bliss. Lots of members with thousands of dollars worth of GF merchandise in the closet who would prefer this thread just go unnoticed.

Amen

[allstarsplus]

I think a big part of the problem is GF and JSA being connected at the hip due to the GF tv show. I wonder if Spence will also get investigated now.

I hope not. JSA has always been clean in my book.

[woodward30]

Their Summer Games auction seems to be a bit later than usual this year. Could this maybe have something to do with the delay?