OT: 3.5 Million Dollar Scam - Pokemon Cards Certified by BBCE

Peter_Spaeth · #1 01-17-2022, 02:30 PM

Maybe the dude who had the case reviewed by Steve misled him. The article suggests maybe he wasn't an innocent player in all this, just repeating it here, not vouching for it.

"The Jacob Gabay Question

Everyone involved in this deal has released statements, and true or not, they seem plausible. The one individual who did not release a public comment on the affair was Jacob Gabay, AKA Card Kahuna.

According to Rattle Pokemon, who broke the story, he was contacted twice by Gabay regarding the incident. Both attempts at contact occurred before the opening. At first, he was confrontational and unrepentant and came from his business Instagram account.

He told Rattle that a defamation lawsuit would be forthcoming due to “business I lost out in [sic] due to your video.” However, he also insisted, “I’m 10000% sure this [Base Set] case is real.”

However, Rattle later received a message from another account, purporting to be Gabay’s personal account. The message there was quite different and included a potential bribe offer: “I will pay you $500,000 to take the video down. This is my personal account. Logan can’t open the box.”

Therefore, there are solid grounds for believing that Jacob Gabay committed fraud. However, that is merely an allegation for now."

swarmee · #2 01-17-2022, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Maybe the dude who had the case reviewed by Steve misled him. The article suggests maybe he wasn't an innocent player in all this, just repeating it here, not vouching for it.

My thoughts are that this guy and Jameel (meelypops) just got dollar signs in their eyes and thought they could make a quick million dollar flip once Steve signed off. If they thought the case was fake, I don't think they would have recorded videos and posted Youtube clips of them flying to Canada to take possession of the package and then be so open about taking it to BBCE. Just that greed got the best of them.
Whether or not their backstory swayed Steve to make the authentication, it doesn't look like he relied on that at all. He seems to have just put eyes on the item and blessed it.
So supposedly the two buyers went to Canada and paid "7 figures" for the original faked case, then had it sealed at BBCE, and resold it soon after for $2.7M. Meely supposedly got $550K from the sale, meaning the other guy got $2.2 Million or so. That guy seems to have run out of cash, and cannot refund Shyne, the guy that flipped it to Logan Paul. Meely originally balked on returning the $550K and then it looks like his lawyer convinced him to put it in escrow to repay Shyne. Meely has a store in Gainesville FL that I visited a few years ago, but regularly posted his baseball card show transactions on social media and blowout recaps. If he cannot get the money back from the Canadian guy pokebutler, I guess he's learning an expensive lesson.

We'll see if this goes the criminal route against either Jameel or his co-buyer (or the Canadian authorities go after the maker), or whether this is fought in courtrooms over the lost cash. If the first buyers knew the case was fake when they imported it to the US, then they could be in for a mess with the FBI. But if that were the case, why pay $1 million on the off-chance that it would fool Steve? Why not just create your own fake case in the US and attempt to pass that off?

japhi · #3 01-17-2022, 03:42 PM

They didn�t pay 7 figures, they are lying about that. That tale and the idea this was some hick farmer is a big part of them trying to improve provenance . The case sold on bids for 5 figures and they purchased it AFTER that sale fell through. So hard to believe they paid 15x the failed auction price.

Suspect they got it for under 80k and were taking a chance on getting it authed and or bringing it back for refund / legal. A gamble and fraud that almost paid off big time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swarmee

My thoughts are that this guy and Jameel (meelypops) just got dollar signs in their eyes and thought they could make a quick million dollar flip once Steve signed off. If they thought the case was fake, I don't think they would have recorded videos and posted Youtube clips of them flying to Canada to take possession of the package and then be so open about taking it to BBCE. Just that greed got the best of them.
Whether or not their backstory swayed Steve to make the authentication, it doesn't look like he relied on that at all. He seems to have just put eyes on the item and blessed it.
So supposedly the two buyers went to Canada and paid "7 figures" for the original faked case, then had it sealed at BBCE, and resold it soon after for $2.7M. Meely supposedly got $550K from the sale, meaning the other guy got $2.2 Million or so. That guy seems to have run out of cash, and cannot refund Shyne, the guy that flipped it to Logan Paul. Meely originally balked on returning the $550K and then it looks like his lawyer convinced him to put it in escrow to repay Shyne. Meely has a store in Gainesville FL that I visited a few years ago, but regularly posted his baseball card show transactions on social media and blowout recaps. If he cannot get the money back from the Canadian guy pokebutler, I guess he's learning an expensive lesson.

We'll see if this goes the criminal route against either Jameel or his co-buyer (or the Canadian authorities go after the maker), or whether this is fought in courtrooms over the lost cash. If the first buyers knew the case was fake when they imported it to the US, then they could be in for a mess with the FBI. But if that were the case, why pay $1 million on the off-chance that it would fool Steve? Why not just create your own fake case in the US and attempt to pass that off?

vintagetoppsguy · #4 01-17-2022, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by japhi

They didn�t pay 7 figures, they are lying about that. That tale and the idea this was some hick farmer is a big part of them trying to improve provenance . The case sold on bids for 5 figures and they purchased it AFTER that sale fell through. So hard to believe they paid 15x the failed auction price.

Suspect they got it for under 80k and were taking a chance on getting it authed and or bringing it back for refund / legal. A gamble and fraud that almost paid off big time.

That's my understanding as well. The $72,500 eBay deal fell thru because the winning bidder wanted to inspect the case before paying for it and the seller wouldn't allow it to be inspected. I'm with you, I can't see them paying that kind of money after a failed eBay deal.

Peter_Spaeth · #5 01-17-2022, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by japhi

They didn’t pay 7 figures, they are lying about that. That tale and the idea this was some hick farmer is a big part of them trying to improve provenance . The case sold on bids for 5 figures and they purchased it AFTER that sale fell through. So hard to believe they paid 15x the failed auction price.

Suspect they got it for under 80k and were taking a chance on getting it authed and or bringing it back for refund / legal. A gamble and fraud that almost paid off big time.

Given the chronology it seems highly unlikely they paid even close to that, I concur.

mrreality68 · #6 01-17-2022, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swarmee

My thoughts are that this guy and Jameel (meelypops) just got dollar signs in their eyes and thought they could make a quick million dollar flip once Steve signed off. If they thought the case was fake, I don't think they would have recorded videos and posted Youtube clips of them flying to Canada to take possession of the package and then be so open about taking it to BBCE. Just that greed got the best of them.
Whether or not their backstory swayed Steve to make the authentication, it doesn't look like he relied on that at all. He seems to have just put eyes on the item and blessed it.
So supposedly the two buyers went to Canada and paid "7 figures" for the original faked case, then had it sealed at BBCE, and resold it soon after for $2.7M. Meely supposedly got $550K from the sale, meaning the other guy got $2.2 Million or so. That guy seems to have run out of cash, and cannot refund Shyne, the guy that flipped it to Logan Paul. Meely originally balked on returning the $550K and then it looks like his lawyer convinced him to put it in escrow to repay Shyne. Meely has a store in Gainesville FL that I visited a few years ago, but regularly posted his baseball card show transactions on social media and blowout recaps. If he cannot get the money back from the Canadian guy pokebutler, I guess he's learning an expensive lesson.

We'll see if this goes the criminal route against either Jameel or his co-buyer (or the Canadian authorities go after the maker), or whether this is fought in courtrooms over the lost cash. If the first buyers knew the case was fake when they imported it to the US, then they could be in for a mess with the FBI. But if that were the case, why pay $1 million on the off-chance that it would fool Steve? Why not just create your own fake case in the US and attempt to pass that off?

Wow. A lot of back story on this and a lot of potential risk/reward for all the wrong reasons.
The story to be continued

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