Fake Jerseys At Card Companies

[Anabolicollege17]

I've had card companies contact me directly to buy issued peices to put into cards. So they are full of themselves. They know what they are buying. Yeah some of them do get duped thinking that jerseys are game used. But just look at some of the relic cards lol. You see fake jerseys chopped up in them. They want whatever is cheap. Over the summer a card company bought every single issued jersey that NFL auctions posted. They out bid anyone at any cost so they can chop them up and put them as a used relic insert. Cards are a joke, and I never trusted them for a second.

I'm one of the persons who think the NFL should stop producing issued jerseys. The NBA doesn't do it anymore. Issued jerseys do nothing for the hobby, but give fraudulent characters the chance at scamming innocent people. And by innocent people, I am not talking about the card companies.

[jmeekins33]

I believe that the card companies know full well the jersey swatches they're selling aren't real. They are only willing to pay a small fraction of a superstar player jersey's market value. Do they think that people are selling them that cheap as a favor? Nonsense.

[allstarsplus]

I believe that the card companies know full well the jersey swatches they're selling aren't real. They are only willing to pay a small fraction of a superstar player jersey's market value. Do they think that people are selling them that cheap as a favor? Nonsense.

You are saying this in present tense and that is a strong accusation unless you meant to say "knew" which is still a fairly strong accusation since those card companies mentioned above don't seem to be mentioned as co-defendants.

I'm fairly certain the card companies had their own level of due diligence to use the jerseys in that pre-2011 timeframe and I think the card companies changed after that to a strict policy of buying only sourced from the team items and with that comes the high price tag of paying retail prices since they are doing top players.

Not sure what the policy is on vintage items as to photomatching or type of authentication so I'm just talking about current players.

[Eric]

Panini has never responded to my requests for information about if they ever bought from Brad Wells. I know the card companies want their money back, but what about the consumers?

I wonder how close this theory from 2011 was...
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...0&postcount=37

Re: Card companies, the FBI & Fraud
Trying to figure out which card companies may have purchased bad jerseys to include in their cards. None of the companies have admitted to anything.

I have several questions in to Panini and will post the answers as soon as I hear back.

The ASI website is long gone, but you can still look at it in an archived form. Some interesting things.

Background:
ASI- Authentic Sports Inc. was a company owned by Brad Wells. In the indictment, Wells is charged with a scheme to fake game used jerseys and sell to the card companies and consign to auction houses and sell to buyers. Here is the description.

3. The object of the scheme to defraud was to sell, consign, or auction jerseys by falsely and fraudulently representing to the buyers that the jerseys were game used, when in fact, as the defendant well knew, the jerseys were not game used.
4. As part of the scheme to defraud, the defendant and others obtained and caused to be obtained hundreds of jerseys from a variety of sources, including retail sellers.
5. It was also a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant and others
frequently changed, or caused changes to the jerseys’ appearance by roughening, scuffing, washing, dirtying, or otherwise changing the appearance of the jerseys to make them appear that they had actual “wear and tear.”
6. It was also a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant and others re-sold, consigned, and auctioned the same jerseys for hundreds of thousands of dollars to sports trading card companies and other buyers by falsely and fraudulently misrepresenting to the buyers that the jerseys were game used, when in fact, as the defendant well knew, the jerseys were not game used.
7. It was also a part of the scheme to defraud that the when the defendant and others re-sold many of these jerseys, they provided or caused to be provided to the buyers, certificates of authenticity that falsely and fraudulently misrepresented that the jerseys were game used jerseys.
8. It was also a part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant frequently re-sold the jerseys, or caused the jerseys to be re-sold in the name of Authentic or Historic.

The entire document can be found here...
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/r...pr1025_01f.pdf

Wells' case is still pending.

Looking at the Authentic Sports Inc. web page from 2006 (thanks to Wayback Machine) it is interesting to see who ASI lists as their "Friends" on an October 14, 2006 snapshot

http://web.archive.org/web/200610140...n=main.Friends

Photo 1 lists "A special hello and thanks to our friends at Donruss Playoff."

That photo was listed on their site as early as October 26, 2005 and while some of these pics came and went, it was still up Dec 23, 2007

Could Wells and ASI have sold jerseys to Donruss Playoff?

Photo 2 shows "Sam Newman & Brad Wells pictured in downtown Chicago"

Samantha Newman is listed in this article as "Donruss Acquisitions Manager"

http://www.paniniamerica.net/dspNewsDetail.cfm?nid=298

According to her LinkedIn resume, she has worked for Donruss, Panini and Leaf
Acquisitions
Leaf Trading Cards
August 2011 – Present (4 months)

Licenses Acquisition Manager
Panini America, Inc.
March 2009 – June 2011 (2 years 4 months)

Entertainment Acquisitions Manager
Donruss Playoff
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry
August 2004 – March 2009 (4 years 8 months)

and lists under her summary

"•Obtain memorabilia for trading cards"

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/samantha-newman/5/118/68

Again, could Donruss have purchased questionable jerseys?
(Note- this photo was in the "Friends" section in 10/26/2005, but was taken down by 12/23/2007)

Photo number 3 lists "Brad Horn & Brad Wells"

Does anyone know, is this Brad Horne (name misspelled on the website) who pleaded guilty last week in the same sports memorabilia fraud case?
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/r...pr1121_01c.pdf

Also interesting to note that in their "Museum" section, the "game-used" Shaun Alexander jersey they have listed for $4000 has the wrong font on the nameplate

http://web.archive.org/web/200609130...712&dep t=GJY

It was addressed in this thread at the time...
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...haun+alexander

Thoughts?
Eric

[jmeekins33]

You are saying this in present tense and that is a strong accusation unless you meant to say "knew" which is still a fairly strong accusation since those card companies mentioned above don't seem to be mentioned as co-defendants.

I'm fairly certain the card companies had their own level of due diligence to use the jerseys in that pre-2011 timeframe and I think the card companies changed after that to a strict policy of buying only sourced from the team items and with that comes the high price tag of paying retail prices since they are doing top players.

Not sure what the policy is on vintage items as to photomatching or type of authentication so I'm just talking about current players.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful to you so please don't take it that way ,but.....

You say that things are different since 2011 and companies are getting stuff only from teams and paying huge retail prices for it. Maybe that's true but how would I as the client know that? You say that you are certain that card companies did their due diligence. Based on what? They offer jack when it comes to any kind of proof for their customers that the jerseys are real. No paper trail, no online resource to look at, no pictures, nothing.

Then you have "event worn" jersey and equipment cards. Photos exist that prove they have had players put on 20 jerseys at a time so the card companies can sell "event worn" jersey swatches. Well, technically the jerseys were worn. They were worn like a snow suit. Not exactly what collectors have in mind I would think. I've seen videos of players putting on a pair of cleats and then taking them off, putting on another pair, and then another, etc. This is not legitimate.

This whole thing is a joke on so many levels that I am shocked people are willing to spend obscene amounts of money for these cards. "Oh, but this card is numbered 1/1". Give me a break. To each their own I guess.

[allstarsplus]

I'm not trying to be disrespectful to you so please don't take it that way ,but.....

You say that things are different since 2011 and companies are getting stuff only from teams and paying huge retail prices for it. Maybe that's true but how would I as the client know that? You say that you are certain that card companies did their due diligence. Based on what? They offer jack when it comes to any kind of proof for their customers that the jerseys are real. No paper trail, no online resource to look at, no pictures, nothing.

Then you have "event worn" jersey and equipment cards. Photos exist that prove they have had players put on 20 jerseys at a time so the card companies can sell "event worn" jersey swatches. Well, technically the jerseys were worn. They were worn like a snow suit. Not exactly what collectors have in mind I would think. I've seen videos of players putting on a pair of cleats and then taking them off, putting on another pair, and then another, etc. This is not legitimate.

This whole thing is a joke on so many levels that I am shocked people are willing to spend obscene amounts of money for these cards. "Oh, but this card is numbered 1/1". Give me a break. To each their own I guess.

I did say they did their due diligence but I'm not saying it was enough as there was obviously too much trust extended given the extreme volume of fakes.

I guess like Eric has tried to do is to get the card companies side of things. It sure would help to hear what their policies and procedures are. I don't think they have to give up their strategies on acquisitions but talk more to their authenticity and standards.

[COWBOYS4EVR]

Great example of a cheap jersey in a card.....IMO fakest ive ever seen

[Anabolicollege17]

Cowboy I see cards like this in the 100's on eBay every time I type game used NFL jersey in the search bar. How do card companies not know these jerseys are fake? Or do they know...and they just want to save a few dollars and fool the average joe who is clueless and wears his fake jersey thinking its real....

Or are these fake cards? Lol