Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

[GMEN92]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I will also add to this that the 2001 michael Strahan game used jersey (sack record season )that's in kens auction is mine and it is 10000% legit and I have several photo matches available for it as well. It has PSA/DNA COA.. And MEARS A10 PERFECT SCORE COA
.
I am only adding this to this thread as I want any possible buyers to know they have nothing to worry about and can bid with not worrying about any issues
Regarding its authenticity ..
If you want more pics of it I can provide them if needed. Just ask.

[BU54CB]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia law suit

This is why the NFL needs a system like MLB Authenticated. We all saw what happened with JO with football jerseys and the mess with Brett Favre and it is time the NFL takes care of this with a real authentication system both at halftime and after the game.

The issue with 2 jerseys worn each game has been an issue for a long time. Collectors deserve better than this.

The NFL doesn't care about the collector, its pretty evident with their current NFL auctions. They provide limited photos, poor descriptions which are sometimes inaccurate. Some of their items aren't what they say they are and the holograms and psa cert #'s don't always match.

I think it would be even worse if they had more to deal with, each team should handle their own jerseys, equipment, etc. IMO

[allstarsplus]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia law suit

The NFL doesn't care about the collector, its pretty evident with their current NFL auctions. They provide limited photos, poor descriptions which are sometimes inaccurate. Some of their items aren't what they say they are and the holograms and psa cert #'s don't always match.

I think it would be even worse if they had more to deal with, each team should handle their own jerseys, equipment, etc. IMO

They should care about the collector.

You still need an independent authenticator hologramming as the players take off their equipment. MLB has it right and the system above the authenticators is good. The system isn't perfect but its better than any other sport. I can say all this as part of the game used system with our store in the Orioles stadium. I've been so frustrated when we request a jersey and the authentication comes back as Game Issued and the authenticator says "Sorry, didn't see the athlete take the jersey off". Well, after reading this story I can now appreciate the extra caution.

I still hope they go a step further and barcode but I realize how labor intensive that could be.

Again, no system is completely perfect. A 100% conclusive photomatch is our way to perfect what we have.

[stonedylan]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I am surprised at all the negative comments. The Giants are a class organization and personally I would be shocked if the allegations were true!

[helmet lover]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I hope that any teams or players thinking of something like this will think twice about it,because as many of you I love this hobby.I could never afford a star players gear & happy with GU 2nd string helmets or jerseys.I would HAVE to have a definitely have to have a photo match for a star player

[helmet lover]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I hope that any teams or players thinking of something like this will think twice about it,because as many of you I love this hobby.I could never afford a star players gear & happy with GU 2nd string helmets or jerseys.I would HAVE to have a definitely have to have a photo match for a star player

I hate to hear that about fellow :confused member GMEN92

[helmet lover]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I hate to hear that about fellow :confused member GMEN92

that stupid face came out in the wrong space,it was supposed to be at the end of the sentence.Hate to hear that about GMEN92

[Jules9]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

Here's another article, updated story from May 2013:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/justice-dept-drops-fraud-charges-sports-memorabilia-dealer-article-1.1345254

[stonedylan]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty!

[Roady]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty!

Most of the post I see as being very careful not to say anyone is guilty. What are you talking about?

[Eric]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

More info on the lawsuit.

Eli Manning says he and NY Giants will fight lawsuit claiming they sold 'fake' sports collectibles

The suit claims that Giants employees created and sold dozens of fake items 'for personal gain.' The New Jersey memorabilia dealer -- Eric Inselberg -- who filed the lawsuit has a dubious past within the sports collectibles industry.

BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014, 8:39 AM
UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014, 11:28 PM


The NY Giants say a lawsuit claiming that the team, as well as quarterback Eli Manning, sold fake memorabilia is 'without merit.'
Eli Manning and the New York Giants will wage a battle against what they called a meritless lawsuit filed Wednesday in New Jersey that claims that the quarterback and his team sold bogus “game-worn” jerseys, helmets and other bogus collectibles to unsuspecting customers.

“The Giants told me this suit is completely without merit and I have no reason to believe otherwise,” Manning said Thursday as his brother Peyton prepared to play in Sunday's Super Bowl. “The Giants are going to fight it and so will I.”

The New Jersey memorabilia dealer who filed the suit, in fact, has a dubious past — even by the dog-eat-dog standards of the sports collectibles industry. Eric Inselberg, who filed the complaint in Bergen County Superior Court, was linked in 2007 to a fake Michael Jordan warmup jacket scam that helped spark an exhaustive Chicago FBI investigation into fraud and corruption in the sports memorabilia industry that continues to this day.

Earlier this week, 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, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

“The suit is completely without any merit whatsoever and we will defend it vigorously,” the Giants said in a statement. “We will not otherwise comment on pending litigation.”

Former NFL quarterback Archie Manning — the father of Eli and Peyton Manning — said the family was blind-sided by Inselberg’s allegations.

“It’s a bombshell, and it’s a bombshell to him, too,” Manning said Thursday of his son’s reaction. “Eli’s always tried to do what’s right. It’s Super Bowl week, and you’ve got to create a story out there but I don’t know anything about it.”

A Hall of Fame display featuring Eli Manning's game-worn helmet from Super Bowl XLII is actually a fake, according to a lawsuit filed by Eric Inselberg.
He later said the family would “get through that.”

The Chicago FBI investigation that included Inselberg also led Bill Mastro, the former owner of Mastro Auctions and once the most influential executive in sports memorabilia, to plead guilty to fraud in October and acknowledge that he had trimmed the world’s most valuable baseball card, a T206 Honus Wagner card once owned by NHL great Wayne Gretzky that sold for $2.8 million in 2007. He awaits sentencing in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Inselberg was one of six memorabilia dealers accused of selling counterfeit game-used jerseys to trading card companies and other buyers in 2011. The other dealers pleaded guilty, but Inselberg chose to fight the charges.

The Justice Department dropped its case against Inselberg in May of 2013 after his lawyers claimed Giants employees and other witnesses had lied to federal agents and the Illinois grand jury that indicted Inselberg. The lawsuit, the court papers say, is an attempt to make the Giants accountable for the false statements that led to Inselberg’s indictment.

“When the government came knocking on the Giants’ door, the response was a cover-up that threw Inselberg under the bus,” the lawsuit claims.

The suit claims that Giants employees created and sold dozens of fake items “for personal gain and out of cold indifference to the importance fans and memorabilia collectors place on authentic pieces of sports history.”

The lawsuit by Eric Inselberg is filed a day before the NFL holds a press conference during Super Bowl week to detail efforts to stop the flow of counterfeit merchandise and tickets.
The suit alleges those items include a helmet on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame that Manning purportedly wore during the team’s Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots six years ago.

Manning, according to the suit, participated in the scheme because he wanted to keep items he wore in significant NFL contests. The fraud was well-known among Giants players and equipment managers, the lawsuit added.

New York attorney and sports memorabilia collector Jeff Lichtman told the Daily News that while he does not know if the allegations leveled against Manning are true, Inselberg’s suit is yet more evidence that collectors need to do their homework. Obtaining items directly from athletes or their reps doesn’t mean they are authentic.

“It should tell you something about the hobby that even when you get an item from players, it may not be the real deal,” Lichtman said. “You wouldn’t spend $100,000 on a car without checking it out. Why spend that kind of money on memorabilia without checking it out?”

NFL officials, meanwhile, remained tight-lipped about the allegations that Manning and Giants employees were involved in the sale of bogus memorabilia. Instead, they focused on warning consumers about criminals attempting to sell counterfeit NFL gear. “ The only thing I know about it is what I read this morning. There were allegations that were made. There hasn’t been any findings. There might not be,” Anastasia Danes, NFL vice president for legal affairs, told a press conference Thursday morning. “I don’t have a response. I don’t know anything about it other than what I read in the complaint in the story.”

John Sandweg, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the Internet has made it easier for counterfeiters to sell fraudulent items to sports fans. “Historically you would see it where it would go in the flea markets, and game vendors, but what we’ve seen is the criminal organizations are eliminating the middle man, creating sophisticated websites, and then selling it directly to the consumer,” Sandweg said. “It increases their profit margin. It also makes it more challenging for us.”

Inselberg may have dodged prosecution, but collectors and dealers remain suspicious of his role in the Jordan jersey scandal. Despite the scrutiny it led to of Mastro Auctions’ practices from the feds, the company’s officials sold the Jordan North Carolina warmup shirt at an Aug. 3, 2007, auction even though an authentication company had told the company it was an obvious fake.

Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services concluded that while the item was indeed a North Carolina shooting shirt from the 1980s, it did not belong to Jordan. When placed over a light table, MEARS wrote, it was apparent that another name had been removed from the back and replaced with “Jordan.” The letters also seemed to made from materials different than that of other patches on the piece.

“The Michael Jordan shirt we evaluated did not start its life as a Michael Jordan shirt,” authenticator Troy Kinunen concluded.

A collector named Jim Reed told The News that stains on the apparel looked remarkably similar to a warmup shirt he had purchased from Ranzino Smith, who joined the Tar Heels in 1985, the year Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls.

Reed said he sold the jersey to Inselberg in 2006. Inselberg told The News that he sold the shirt at a Westchester memorabilia show in January of 2007, but he didn’t know the buyer’s name and could not contact the man because he had paid cash.

Mastro Auctions sold the jersey for $11,000, but ultimately voided the sale. By then, however, the FBI investigation was in full swing. Mastro and two other auction house officials, Doug Allen and Mark Theotikos, were indicted on fraud charges in 2012. Allen and Theotikos have entered not guilty pleas and are awaiting trial.

Mastro Auctions was dissolved in 2009, and Allen and Theotikos later went on to form Legendary Auctions. Rogers, the Arkansas dealer, is an investor in the company. A spokesman for the United States Attorney in Chicago acknowledged that searches were conducted at Rogers’ office and home on Tuesday but said he could not comment further.

- With Christian Red



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...#ixzz2rwoKEMkG

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giants-lawsuit-manning-team-fake-memorabilia-merit-article-1.1596396

[Eric]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

Here is a link to the entire lawsuit. Chock full of interesting nuggets

http://www.sportsmedia101.com/newyorkgiants/2014/01/30/eric-inselberg-vs-new-york-giants-read-the-entire-lawsuit/

[ousooner_85]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

Eric....did you get the pm I sent you in the last week or two?

[Eric]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

I did not.Let me check

[Eric]

Re: Eli and Giants Fake Memorabilia lawsuit

Keith Olbermann did a segment on this tonight. Worth watching...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YFtIeIIHcE&feature=youtu.be