This is going to be interesting- Frangipani vs. the World

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Posted By: shelly jaffe

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------X
DONALD FRANGIPANI,

Plaintiff,COMPLAINT and
DEMAND FOR
-against-JURYTRIAL

HBO; BRYANT GUMBEL; RICK BERNSTEIN; Case No.:
ROSS GRENBURG;KIRBY BRADLEY; ANDREW
BENNETT;JOE PERSKIE; TRES DRISCOLL;
and ARMEN KETEYLAN,COLLECTORS UNIVERSE
INC., d/b/a PSA/DNA AUTHENTICATION SERVICES;
JAMES J. SPENCE, LLC, aka JAMES SPENCE
AUTHENTICATION; JAMES SPENCE,
individually; RICHARD SIMON SPORTS;
RICHARD SIMON, individually;

Check out Donald Frangipani law suit on google.
Edited for spelling.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Since he's put his reputation into issue, not to mention opening up his finances to examination since he's claiming loss of business as as a consequence. Stupid. Should have let it lie and it would have been forgotten. Instead he gets a re-airing of the issues.

Funniest allegation I saw in a news story about the case is that HBO said he authenticated thousands of forged items when he says he really only authenticated hundreds of them.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: DD

I would guess one of two reasons for the donald to file his lawsuit:

1) He is 68, going to retire, and needs a hobby. Suing people is a good as a hobby as any. Also, even though he is infamous in this business, 99 out of 100 people don't know who he is, so what the hell

2) They are casting roles for the father in The Dennis Farina story, and he wants to give acting a shot, since he can lie so convincingly on camera

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Posted By: leon

With all of those high powered folks being sued I wonder what the over and under of it ever actually going to court would be? It will be interesting to see how it goes...

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Posted By: Tom Russo

New York has a one year statute of limitations for libel. Most other states have a one or two year statute of limitations. The plaintiff has both the law and the facts against him. Not a very promising lawsuit. My guess is that the defendants will win this on summary judgment. The plaintiff's deposition would be very interesting reading however.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I really don;t think The Donald will want to be fooling around with the legal representation of either PSA or JSA. This thing will be nipped in the bud before it gets carried away.

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Posted By: Robert

This is very interesting and I'm sure other authenticators will be watching this with close eye balls.

I pulled this from Sports Collectors Daily (a great web site! www.sportscollectorsdaily.com).

I have read this a few times. What does Spence or PSA/DNA have to do with it? They had nothing to do with the HBO Special...is it because they failed Frangipani's items? And why wasn't Jaffe mentioned? Curious...very curious.

LOVE this..."I had an excellent reputation, and all of a sudden I lost it all," Frangipani said.

Bob

A New York man accused of authenticating numerous fake autographs has filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against HBO and its Real Sports program.

Donald Frangipani, a forensic handwriting examiner who built a business authenticating celebrity and sports autographs and other memorabilia, filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Defendants include HBO, Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel, reporter Armen Keteylan and several of the show's producers who worked on a story about autograph authentication in which Frangipani signed off on a number of deliberately forged autographs.

"I had an excellent reputation, and all of a sudden I lost it all," Frangipani said.

The publicity surrounding the Operation Bullpen case dealt a major blow to Frangipani's business.
Autographed items with Frangipani-issued certificates of authenticity are not even allowed to be sold on eBay. The site's policy on autographs states that "hundreds of COAs originally issued by Donald Frangipani may have been fraudulently copied or altered. Until further notice, eBay will not permit any use of or reference to certificates of authenticity issued by Donald Frangipani."

"Forger's Paradise" was a Real Sports investigative report about the growing problem of fake sports memorabiia sold to the public via the internet. Aired in January 2006, the story named Frangipani as the source who issued certificates of authenticity for the group convicted in Operation Bullpen, an FBI investigation that resulted in several arrests and the confiscation of thousands of pieces of sports memorabilia with non-genuine signatures.


The HBO show incorrectly reported that Frangipani signed off on "thousands" of fakes for the ring, according to the complaint. Instead, Frangipani's lawsuit states he looked at fewer than 500 items and rejected about 60.

The suit states that the defendants named in the suit "were grossly irresponsible and acted with malice when they repeated these statements without confirming the truthfulness of them, and led the viewer to such false and defamatory conclusions."

The suit also claims the Real Sports story relied on accusations by autograph dealer Shelly Jaffe, who had pleaded guilty to taking part in the forgery ring and who it says "is very hostile" to Frangipani.

The suit claims Jaffe, while working with HBO, sent some authentic items to Frangipani so that legitimate COAs could be forged as well. It claims Frangipani declined to authenticate 50 to 60 items of more than 400 sent by Jaffe and that Frangipani did not learn that his COAs were being forged until it was revealed by Operation Bullpen.

Since his arrest, Jaffe has worked with HBO, law enforcement and other outlets in an attempt to stop fake autographs from being sold to unsuspecting buyers.

The suit claims the HBO segment was deliberately edited "to mislead viewers into believing that Frangipani approved items without really examining them."

Frangipani is seeking a jury trial and damages of at least $5 million plus punitive damages and attorney fees.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

"The suit claims the HBO segment was deliberately edited "to mislead viewers into believing that Frangipani approved items without really examining them.""

OK, so what Frangipani is saying is that all the fake garbage he did pass was stuff he actually saw? Like the HBO items that came from the FBI's treasure chest of forgeries...which makes him a complete incompetent.

Man, I would love a shot at this one...


Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Richard S. Simon

Anyone of these great posters a NY attorney.
If so ,please e mail.
I do have my own attorney but I would prefer someone with a knowledge of the hobby.
==

I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Unknown author
--
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.
No retreat baby, no surrender.
The Boss

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Posted By: Tom Russo

I knew that some day I would regret not taking the New York Bar Exam.

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Posted By: shelly jaffe

If anyone wants to see the actual law suite. Please email me at shellyj@cox.net. It will allow Robert to see why I was not not sued. Please send me your email address so I can forward the law suite.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

BTW, it is "law suit" not "law suite"; a law suite is what the lawyer sits in while he writes out the pleading for the law suit.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: shelly jaffe

I want to thank you for your correction.

Shelly

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Prediction #1: PSA, Simon and Spence will be cut loose relatively early in return for a waiver of malicious prosecution claims.
Prediction #2: Frangipani is not going to enjoy this...

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_pix_fixed_so_stripper_drops_oscar_de_la_.html

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Posted By: leon

I especially liked the comment in the article:

"They later made it onto the Internet and were splashed across the pages of the fact-challenged New York Post."

ps....edited to add....we really should keep this thread about the sports issue concerning the Donald.....please...lets try to stay on topic (me too!!)

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Maybe I wasn't clear.....

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06242008/news/regionalnews/scripting_5m_suit_vs__hbo_116946.htm

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Wonder if the stripper case was a selling point for the Donald?

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: leon

You were clear. It was a different article though.

edited- my bad...the association of the 2 (weak) cases is that it's the same lawyer.....Yikes....

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Adam -- exactly. I guess that earth shattering victory brought all the new business in.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

For those of us who were taking a break from the hobby when all of this went down, did Frangipani ever have anywhere near a decent reputation before Operation Bullpen and the HBO story or was he always considered a rubber stamp?

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Posted By: Mark

Anthony:
Anyone with the least bit of knowledge knew he was a joke prior to Operation Bullpen. But his authorizations were actually allowed on Ebay, prior to the convictions.

I don't think anyone ever paid more for an item because it had his blessing (but I might be wrong). I just think most people considered the Frangipani LOA to be a mere formality (or rubber stamp) as you put it. There sure were a slew of them out there!

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Posted By: Joseph

One wonders if Frangipani would have issued a COA for the de la Hoya fishnet collection...

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

The best line from the complaint is as follows:

"It is unknown how many of the items, if any, provided by Jaffe to Frangipani were fake."

Considering who filed the lawsuit, this one sentence will likely kill the whole case! Mr. F should have some idea of how many of the items were counterfeit, shouldn't he? At least a ballpark figure would be of assistance.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

stop being logical, damnit!

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: shelly jaffe

If I where called to testify under oath, my answer would be every item I sent where fake.

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Posted By: DJ

Shelly,

How many other fakes would he have gotten?

DJ

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Posted By: shelly jaffe

I can say that if I where to be asked under oath it was a lot more than 500.