Arrest at the National?

[David]

Re: Arrest at the National?

I don't think the specific issue is that a fake jersey was sold the firs time, but that it was returned with evidence it was fake then turn around and sold again as real.

[David]

Re: Arrest at the National?

I don't know the facts or who knew what and when and don't pretend or claim to here, but if a McGwire jersey was returned to the seller because McGwire said he owned the only real one (one article says that's what McGwire said), how could it could it then be sold without knowledge that it wasn't real?

[corsairs25]

Re: Arrest at the National?

VA can argue that our man Lou Lampson said items were authentic and that's good enough for us. That could be a defense but I wonder how many people on a jury would accept such a defense - especially if a jury member was a member of this forum. If this case makes it to court, Lou Lampson will certainly be on someone's witness list. When Lou gets to the witness stand, I wonder how will he be treated? A "expert witness"?

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net

Unindicted co-conspirator?

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Joel and others:

I have been at the National every day and will be there for upcoming days (I'm writing this Thursday night); however, for health reasons, I am only attending for 4 hours per day, as the ride on public transportation to get there takes about 1.5 hours each way. I also have been sticking pretty close to the booth I am assisting at. I didn't see the Vintage commotion, but that could have been because I had not arrived yet or had already left, or I was not in the vicinity when the confrontation went down.

Dave Miedema

[Eric]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Updated AP story, with quote from Chris Cavalier...

Man charged for selling fake jerseys
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Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS -- The head of a Minnesota sports memorabilia company was charged Thursday with orchestrating a scheme to sell fraudulent sports merchandise online, including fake baseball jerseys he claimed were worn during games by Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols.

U.S. postal inspectors arrested Steven Jensen, chief executive of Plymouth-based Vintage Sports Authentics, during a sports collectors' convention in Rosemont, Ill. He is charged in federal court in New York City with one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.

Jensen, 40, of Osseo, and his company are accused of knowingly auctioning off jerseys between July 2007 and last month that were purportedly "game used," worn by prominent baseball players, but were not authentic.

If customers independently learned the jerseys were fake and returned them, Jensen allegedly re-auctioned them, authorities said. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not immediately put a dollar figure for the alleged scheme.

Messages left at Vintage Sports Authentics were not returned Thursday. A message seeking comment was also left at a telephone listing for Steven Jensen in Osseo.

Thomas Boyle, an assistant inspector-in-charge with the postal inspection service, said no merchandise was seized from Jensen's booth at the National Sports Collectors Convention on Thursday. Authorities also searched his company warehouse in Plymouth.

Vintage Sports Authentics auctions sports memorabilia "purported to be authentic and genuine," according to the criminal complaint filed in New York.

In July 2007, the complaint said, one customer in the Bronx paid more than $3,000 for a home Seattle Mariners jersey the company said was worn by Rodriguez during the 1995 season. The customer brought the jersey to a sports memorabilia show in New Rochelle, N.Y., in January 2010 for Rodriguez to sign.

An authenticator at the show determined the jersey was fake because the name plate fabric was different from the rest of the jersey, the complaint said.

The complaint said Jensen stood by the jersey's authenticity when approached by the customer, who eventually returned the jersey after a former Mariners equipment manager examined it and also concluded it wasn't genuine.

Vintage Sports Authentics re-auctioned the jersey online last February, falsely stating it was the real thing, the complaint said.

In another online auction, an undercover postal inspector paid $477 to buy an away Oakland Athletics jersey advertised as being worn by McGwire in 1997. The agent spoke with several people to determine the jersey was fake, including McGwire, according to the complaint.

The postal inspector showed McGwire a list of other memorabilia offered by Vintage Sports Authentics, including a Home Run Derby jersey purportedly worn by McGwire during the 1999 All-Star Game. McGwire told the agent he still has his Home Run Derby jersey, the complaint said.

The agent told Jensen the jersey was fake and returned it, and his company offered it online again as genuine, the complaint said.

Vintage Sports Authentics also offered an away St. Louis Cardinals jersey in February said to be worn by Pujols in 2002. But Pujols told officials he still possesses the only two away Cardinals jerseys issued to him for the 2002 season.

Christopher Cavalier, chief executive officer of Game Used Universe, which hosts online auctions and collector forums, said sports memorabilia collectors must educate themselves and examine jersey stitching, lettering, manufacturer's tags and other details to determine an item's authenticity.

"It's an unregulated industry," Cavalier said. "There is a lot of money to be made and if people aren't educated, the collector is the one who is going to lose out."

[cohibasmoker]

Re: Arrest at the National?

As a lawyer, I am doubtful they have enough evidence to convict. VA can argue that our man Lou Lampson said items were authentic and that's good enough for us. It will probably cause VA to go out of business to defend if PIs are pushing really hard. It seems to me Arod buyer had serious case of buyer's remorse once it was known that Arod was a juicer.

I'm guessing that items may be bad, but players' credibility on game used jerseys is shaky best. Not sure how knowledgeable the equipment managers are either; however, would take their word over players and Lou. Are these the same guys who were doing it during the relevant year?

As an aside, I have the identical (year and venue) Arod, Pujois, and McGwire jerseys that I purchased in VA auctions. I have to admit that this must be more than pure coincidence. Yet, I saw about five or six Greg Dobbs Blue alternate jerseys when visiting the Mariners team store in '05. I won the '02 road Pujois jersey in the February VA auction. It stunned me a bit to see another one in this auction. Cards experts please let me know if you recall the Feb. one as being a fake. I recall Cards fans informing us that you could buy them in the team store. Pujois is full of shit saying that he has all of them.

VA can argue that our man Lou Lampson said items were authentic and that's good enough for us. That could be a defense but I wonder how many people on a jury would accept such a defense - especially if a jury member was a member of this forum. If this case makes it to court, Lou Lampson will certainly be on someone's witness list. When Lou gets to the witness stand, I wonder how will he be treated? A "expert witness"?

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net

[DeacDoug]

Re: Arrest at the National?

As a lawyer, I am doubtful they have enough evidence to convict. VA can argue that our man Lou Lampson said items were authentic and that's good enough for us. It will probably cause VA to go out of business to defend if PIs are pushing really hard. It seems to me Arod buyer had serious case of buyer's remorse once it was known that Arod was a juicer.

I'm guessing that items may be bad, but players' credibility on game used jerseys is shaky best. Not sure how knowledgeable the equipment managers are either; however, would take their word over players and Lou. Are these the same guys who were doing it during the relevant year?

As an aside, I have the identical (year and venue) Arod, Pujois, and McGwire jerseys that I purchased in VA auctions. I have to admit that this must be more than pure coincidence. Yet, I saw about five or six Greg Dobbs Blue alternate jerseys when visiting the Mariners team store in '05. I won the '02 road Pujois jersey in the February VA auction. It stunned me a bit to see another one in this auction. Cards experts please let me know if you recall the Feb. one as being a fake. I recall Cards fans informing us that you could buy them in the team store. Pujois is full of shit saying that he has all of them.

[cubbs1232]

Re: Arrest at the National?

its amazing that auction houses that continue to offer 1000s of fake items each month (ie myccsa.com) continue to be able to fly under the radar with no problems. hopefully this is just the start of the crack down by the government on these criminals who lie, steal, and cheat the people in this hobby!

[sylbry]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Sports Collectors Daily has the first full story on the arrest...
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...fraud-charges/

It will be interesting to see how far this investigation reaches. There are a few Twins jerseys where if I was the consignor I can't say I would sleep to comfortable.

I exchanged a few emails with Steve this week regarding my posting questionable items in the latest auction. He was correct to call me out for not notifying him first and for that I apologied for my lack of tact. One comment he made to me was "I don't claim to be the know it all authenticator myself but I do pay a ton of money in authentication fees to try to make sure everything is genuine and authentic." Steve, you may want to get a refund. Looks like your authenticator really let you down.

[ironmanfan]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Steve's arrest amazes me. Somebody really had a hard on for VA to do this at the National. The Postal Inspectors will now have to prove that Steve's items were not authentic and that Steve knew it. Perhaps Steve told somebody this information and that person reported it to the PIs. It is not that easy to prove items are bad, as opposed to merely doubtful; let alone that VA's knowledge. Will the case involve Lou Lampson who, as the authenticator, either knew the items were bad or was merely as bad at his job as many have claimed here.

Yet, it is hard for me to believe that Steve was doing this deliberately. Both Steven and Mark, his partner, have always been straight shooters with me and, I think, on this site when posting. Most questions about authenticity have been resolved quickly and amicably. It is possible that VA's philosophy was to put the bad item out there and pull it if there were complaints. I certainly hope this was not the case.

If you read the article that Eric posted, you'll note that Jensen knew he was selling bad items....

Another thing that was amazing was how the prices have dropped since that collector originally bought the '95 A-Rod jersey back in 2007...When did this Forum start?

Any LL sightings in Chi town?

[DeacDoug]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Steve's arrest amazes me. Somebody really had a hard on for VA to do this at the National. The Postal Inspectors will now have to prove that Steve's items were not authentic and that Steve knew it. Perhaps Steve told somebody this information and that person reported it to the PIs. It is not that easy to prove items are bad, as opposed to merely doubtful; let alone that VA's knowledge. Will the case involve Lou Lampson who, as the authenticator, either knew the items were bad or was merely as bad at his job as many have claimed here.

I have bought many items from VA auctions. They had some great items and prices were relatively reasonable. Even Howard Wolfe vouched for VA's credibility at one point. I am not so naive as to believe that all the items I've purchased are real. Action houses and authenticators make mistakes as we know.

Yet, it is hard for me to believe that Steve was doing this deliberately. Both Steven and Mark, his partner, have always been straight shooters with me and, I think, on this site when posting. Most questions about authenticity have been resolved quickly and amicably. It is possible that VA's philosophy was to put the bad item out there and pull it if there were complaints. I certainly hope this was not the case.

[Eric]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Sports Collectors Daily has the first full story on the arrest...

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/dealer-arrested-facing-mail-fraud-charges/

[Eric]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Was anyone there today? Any first-hand accounts?

[MSpecht]

Re: Arrest at the National?

There have been a few interesting threads over the years that have highlighted VA, S Jensen in particular, and the primary VA authenticator... In the words of the late Malcolm X, it looks like another "case of the chickens coming home to roost."

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/search.php?searchid=904897

Thanks for the kind words above Joel (post 16)... GUU has made a major impact in the memorabilia hobby / business in customer protection and consumer fraud. Think back 5 or 6 years ago, then decide whether the landscape is better now or not.

Unfortunately, however, there are still people out there whose sole object is to make as much money as they can, at no matter whose expense. If one's business model is "for each item that gets questioned and exposed, I will still sell 20 other bad items that will never come to light," they will probably make some money, at least until the chickens come home to roost.

Mike Jackitout7@aol.com

[CampWest]

Re: Arrest at the National?

Ever wonder that maybe I was making fun at the BBB being completely meaningless.

I don't do drugs. So I will pass on the chill pill suggestion.

I'm sorry, that you are offended that I explained that the BBB is meaningless and they do not review products and services. I sincerely apologize for my inability to infer your comment was satirical in nature.

Yes, the BBB is largely meaningless. That was precisely my point as well, so I am glad to see we are in agreement.