Chris Morales appears in court for an autograph case, read about the results.

[mdschulze]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

There are approximately 4,000 auctions listed by CC every month. I would bet a ton of money that all of their autograph auctions (vintage, cut sigs, historical) are supplied to CC by less then ten people. Maybe less than five. It's incredible the tens of thousands pieces of garbage that both Lee Trythall and Scott Malack have flooded the market with. It's insane that it still continues. The majority of it "authenticated" by Chris Morales, Forensic Investigator, and Ted Taylor (TTA & Stat Authentic).

This was my thought exactly! I can picture 3-4 guys sitting around the table with a couple of beers knocking out autographs and laughing about everyone they're screwing. I wonder how much $$ these guys have scammed out of people since they started? This pisses me off to the extreme to find worthless people out there who screw people out of their money, regardless of what industry it's in. What do you do to stop these guys? You and several others have written informative articles that can be easily accessible on the internet, but now what? It's frustrating to see this info out there with no rebuttals from the guilty and no pending criminal charges.

[thetruthisoutthere]

There is a ton of information on the web about the thousands of GAI authenticated forgeries with Mike Baker's name on the COA. But check out the below Ebay seller. Look at his photographs of the GAI cert. He conveniently cuts the GAI cert just above where Mike Baker's name would read. Of course, these Mike Baker certed forgeries are very obvious without the GAI cert.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Si...item3cb962aa91

FAT-1.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Wi...item3cb9629a98

FAT-2.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-Te...item3369008071

FAT-3.jpg

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by mdschulze

This was my thought exactly! I can picture 3-4 guys sitting around the table with a couple of beers knocking out autographs and laughing about everyone they're screwing. I wonder how much $$ these guys have scammed out of people since they started? This pisses me off to the extreme to find worthless people out there who screw people out of their money, regardless of what industry it's in. What do you do to stop these guys? You and several others have written informative articles that can be easily accessible on the internet, but now what? It's frustrating to see this info out there with no rebuttals from the guilty and no pending criminal charges.

Very true, Mike. The people who create this garbage and those that sell that garbage have absolutely no conscience.

[benjulmag]

is that Mr. Morales plies his trade in an unlicensed profession. In contrast to professions such as law, medicine, actuary, autograph authentication is an unregulated and unlicensed profession. So anybody, regardless of the person's competence or integrity, may practice it. The way to stop unscrupulous authenticators is to have licensing requirements. That will require that prospective practioners demonstrate competence in the area, as well allow the licensing authority to revoke the license of unscrupulous or incompetent licensees. Without that, it is truly the wild west out there, making it quite difficult to obtain criminal convictions.

I might add that it wouldn't be a bad idea for auction houses too to be licensed. Perhaps that might weed out some of the more unscupulous players.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

is that Mr. Morales plies his trade in an unlicensed profession. In contrast to professions such as law, medicine, actuary, autograph authentication is an unregulated and unlicensed profession. So anybody, regardless of the person's competence or integrity, may practice it. The way to stop unscrupulous authenticators is to have licensing requirements. That will require that prospective practioners demonstrate competence in the area, as well allow the licensing authority to revoke the license of unscrupulous or incompetent licensees. Without that, it is truly the wild west out there, making it quite difficult to obtain criminal convictions.

I might add that it wouldn't be a bad idea for auction houses too to be licensed. Perhaps that might weed out some of the more unscupulous players.

I don't know about other states, but Massachusetts licenses auctioneers. And I have seen them enforce rules from the podium.

Licensing may help, but it isn't much of a solution. I wish I'd taken pics of the work a licensed contractor did on my porch. Worse than a bad Jr High shop project. It's been redone now, by a competent contractor. The other porch was done by me - not licensed, not a contractor. It came out much better than what the first guy did. (And the second guy said it was ok work, not up to his standards, but acceptable)

So much licensing these days is based on classes, usually 8-40 hours and a passably challenging test. And often no real experience required unless there's a union involved(Which is another rant I won't afflict you with..)

Steve B

[thetruthisoutthere]

Anyone can take a 2-week course on Handwriting Examination" and call themselves a "Document Examiner."

Just think of the number of people who call themselves "Document Examiners" or "Forensic Experts" who abuse that title.

Then there are the so-called collectors who are totally naive and ignorant, who believe that because a COA reads the word "Forensic" or "Document Examiner" that the autograph must be authentic.

Look at the thousands of so-called collectors who got suckered in by the "Nicholas Burczyk" COA because the COA read "Forensic Document Examiner."

Go to the website of Chris Morales and you'll see pages and pages of credentials and from those credentials this is what you get:

http://www.myccsa.com/Lot.aspx?LotID=272094

This is a close-up of that Ruth cut:

MR.jpg

[GrayGhost]

this just seems like a losing battle. I hope not tho, but terrible indeed. Keep fighting, one person turned away from these scum is good. Plus, certs being banned in places is a good start to what hopefully is a final long term goal.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

this just seems like a losing battle. I hope not tho, but terrible indeed. Keep fighting, one person turned away from these scum is good. Plus, certs being banned in places is a good start to what hopefully is a final long term goal.

I hope not either, Scott. But I, for one, am not going away.

Yes, Christopher L. Morales, Forensic Investigator, on Ebay's banned list.

I read on a website a few weeks ago where someone was blaming a certain person for Morales being placed on Ebay's banned list.

Only one person got Morales on Ebay's banned list and that person is Chris Morales, Forensic Investigator.