Some third party authentication companies will glance at your autographed memorbillia and instantly tell you it's not genuine, but not before charging you a huge fee to do so.
Make Sure You Do Not Fall Victim to Third Party Authentication Companies.
The following article is from People Magazine
https://people.com/3-people-charged-selling-200k-worth-forged-jason-kelce-memorabilia-8779062
Just a month or so ago I reported that the Owner of Beckett plead guilty to a $2 billion dollar insurance scam. Then the CEO was arrested at Beckett although we don't yet know what he was charged with. Now it's reported a Beckett authentication so-called, self-appointed expert has yet to turn herself in for Forgery, Theft, and 58 other counts. Her name is LeeAnn Branco. She according to news reports authenticated over $200,000 worth of forged Jason Kelce autographs knowingly. Of course the forger, a Mr. Capone (not sure if he's related to Alphonse Capone or not) got Beckett authentication to issue fake certificates (their real ones for fake memorabilia) as a scheme to fraud customers. The above link shows the story but it will be published below as well.
Beckett authentication is no different than PSA and JSA in services of giving opinions on memorabilia, for a fairly steep fee giving collectors who don't know much, security that their material may be in fact genuine. The problem is these authenticators, whose names are rarely known or heard of in the hobby use their power to fail competitors material just based off who sold it. One authenticator went so far as to state; "If it came from a good guy it's genuine, if it came from a bad guy it's fake." Another time, this imposter self proclaimed authenticator stated that 5 items were fake. When he was informed it was a person he knew who sold them he stated; "Oh, he's a good guy, they are real now." Month's ago a JSA leading authenticator was caught on film stuffing $100,000 worth of memorabilia down his shirt and walking out of a memorabilia store on camera. His mug shot at the time was shared. Many wonder if Steve Grad is next in line at Beckett to be arrested.
The other problem of course is are you buying forgeries from fake "signed in the presence of" or just stickered memorabilia where the third party authenticator is in on the fraud!
About two years ago 1,000 Al Pacino signed autographs flooded the memorabilia market on eBay where a seller was asking $1,000 each. They had many things signed from Fedora's with feathers in them to photographs to all sorts of stuff. These items came with COA's from Beckett stating "Signed in the presence of." This was a $1,000,000 heist as Al Pacino's manager of 27 years was contacted where she stated the signing "Never happened." She stated Al Pacino would rather pay $2,000,000 to not sign autographs than getting a million for signing them. She reminded the caller that Pacino is worth over $400 million dollars, is near his mid-80's and would never do such a thing. When asked if Pacino would pursue this theft of his name she stated he doesn't care about petty things like this. What's interesting is whoever forged these items claiming Pacino signed them in the presence of Beckett that never happened) used six different exemplars to forge from during this signing. This fraud has not been investigated because Pacino seems to not care that thieves are stealing his name, forging his signature and Beckett authenticating them as "Signed in the presence of". Pacino's manager also stated she's been Al's scheduler for decades and this signing just never ever happened!
Al Pacino can't seem to get a fair shake when it comes to autographs. Everyone remembers PSA & JSA's so called expert John Reznikoff going into pawn stars authenticating an Albert Ruddy autograph as Al Pacino. That embarassing blunder can also be found all over the internet or here
https://www.looper.com/339413/what-happened-to-the-godfather-script-featured-on-pawn-stars/
One would think collectors would wake up and stop using services that are intentionally defrauding them at a high cost with forgeries. A year ago Beckett authentication was involved in another scam authenticating Ian McKellen forgeries supposedly signed in the presence of. Evidentially, the promoter of this theft hired a homeless man to dress up like Ian McKellen wearing a hat and dark glasses. Without even asking for proof of this scam, Steve Grad, the authenticator began authenticating all this crap until Ian McKellen stated;
Steven Koschal, an expert authenticator has been exposing these frauds for years. Once he stated; "Whose watching the watchers?" How true these words are today. The answer is nobody! But now fortunately after decades of complaints of fraud the authorities are arresting the scoundrels involved in these scams to prevent bad folks from profiting off celebrities and a guilable collecting base. Good companies can still be found alive and well within the autograph industry. To make sure your dealing with someone honest and credible first make sure they don't offer third party authentication stickers on their items for if they do, not only do you not know who passed it but neither does the seller outside of a company name and we all know companies don't authenticate autographs, people do! To find a list of honest and credible folks who still guarantee what they sell they should be a member of PADAH. Stephenkoschal.com has a list of these members on his website and on this website. Another honest dealer, Todd Mueller actually sued these firms. When submitting autographs, these firms always ask; "Where did you get it?" Name one of their friends and it will pass, name one of their enemies on their hit list for not supporting fraud and it fails. Tell them you got it from a firm known to use them and it will automatically pass. Mafia tactics for sure but if you want to play the game lie where it came from as they lie about their opinion. Now your on an even playing field for things sold by their enemies will always pass if they don't biasly know the source.
As more arrests come to light in the near future, and stickers become a sign of something fishy collectors will be pissed they were mislead by these folks, cheated, ripped off, stolen from, or buying outright forgeries with the authentication company involved. Other hobby blogs that turn the other way and don't write about these blatant criminal acts are involved or consider these criminals and their acts as friends. They also cannot be trusted. To find out hobby news turn here or just google it. These type of crimes affect everyone and make autograph collecting hazordous unless dealing with an honest dealer who doesn't support these firms who also guarantee everything they sell forever. Obviously it would be silly to allow a company whose authenticators are arrested and charged with 60 crimes to fail a competitors items and then have that honest dealer give a refund based off crooked companies promoting, forging, stealing and frauding the hobby. Unfortunately this was all predictible. This sticker authentication scam is a "Money grab" where anything can be authenticated by them for a fee or simply by resubmitting the items for eventually nothing will fail.
People magazine article below
Jason Kelce$200k Memorabilia Scam Uncovered... 3 Charged W/ Felonies
Published January 23, 2025 7:44 AM PST
Jason Kelce's signature is worth a pretty penny ... and officials say three people tried to capitalize, allegedly selling $200K worth of fake memorabilia, before they were busted!
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office (PA) announced Thursday that Robert Capone, LeeAnn Branco, and Joseph Parenti are facing 60 felony counts, ranging from theft to forgery, for their alleged roles in the scheme.
Capone, 51, Branco, 43, and Parenti, 39, are accused of lying about the authenticity and provenance of more than 1,100 items, including helmets, jerseys, photos and footballs, advertising the items on a website as real-deal signed Kelce merch.
Authorities say Branco, in June 2024, attended an autograph signing in Pennsylvania where Kelce was present, taking a photo with the Pro Bowl lineman "in order to validate her in-the-presence authentication of the forged memorabilia that was never actually signed by Kelce."
Ultimately, officials say the fake items were sold through two sports memorabilia businesses owned by Capone and Parenti, with Branco, an employee of Beckett Authentication Services, providing false verification.
After items were sold, authorities say a local police department was tipped off that something was wrong ... and they began investigating.
Jason Kelce On The FieldLaunch GalleryGetty
Capone was arraigned on Wednesday ... and released on $100k bail. He has a hearing scheduled in early February.
As for the other two, they have not yet turned themselves in (though that's expected soon) ... where they will then also be arraigned in a PA court.
3 People Charged with Selling $200,000 Worth of Forged Jason Kelce Memorabilia
Robert Capone, 51, of Philadelphia; LeeAnn Branco, 43, of Bristol, R.I.; and Joseph Parenti, 39, Cranston, R.I., were charged with multiple counts of forgery and theft related to selling the items
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It all comes down to this. Don't trust someone who has proven they are not worthy of such. How many more arrests need to be made before the hobby wakes up???? Folks are now stating counterfeit stickers of Beckett are more realiable than genuine stickers from Beckett.
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