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Antiquities Caesars Palace, GFA/Stephen Rocchi and AAU/Drew Max Sued for Autograph Fraud

According to the Courthouse News Service, Mr. Daniel Odobas has filed a lawsuit against Antiquities Of Nevada (Toby Stoffa), Drew Max (Authentic Autographs Unlimited) and Stephen Rocchi (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators for "Fraud, Deceptive, Trade, Misrepresentation, Unjust Enrichment, Conspiracy, Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract and Breach Of Warranty."

Immediately below are links to the story.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/08/30/vegas-memorabilia-house-ac...

http://www.inquisitr.com/3472565/vegas-antiques-and-memorabilia-dea...

In my opinion, this was a long time coming.

Drew Max of Authentic Autographs Unlimited, gives himself the title of Forensic Document Examiner (FDE).

What in the world does "Forensics" have anything to do with autographs?

Very, very rarely in my opinion.

I don't know of any Forensic Document Examiner who knows sports or music autographs

It is also important to know that COAs and LOAs issued by Forensic Document Examiners or by authentication companies that use them, are much less likely to be genuine.

I have yet to see an authentic autograph of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams with a COA from Drew Max (AAU).

Not one.

Just below is a link to a thread I wrote on Drew Max and one of his performances on the Pawn Stores show as he Forensically Examined an FDR "Letter To Clergy."

http://live.autographmagazine.com/profiles/blogs/drew-max-forensic-...

Then, of course, there is Stephen Rocchi and his Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators (GFA) group.

In the six years since Rocchi started GFA, I have yet to see one authentic Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio autograph with a COA from GFA (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators).

Also, since when does a Forensic Examination only cost $25.00?

Rocchi does all of the below for $25.00 and still can't get it right.

From Rocchi's website. Seriously?

You do not need "Forensics" to determine if an autograph is authentic or not.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/ebay-mantle-dimaggio...

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/joe-dimaggio-forgeri...

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/roger-maris-forgerie...

Just below is a typical Mickey Mantle forgery on a baseball with a COA from Stephen Rocchi and Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators.

It can be opined in less than one second as a forgery.

What is Rocchi thinking when he issues a COA for the below Mantle forgery?

Rocchi (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators) has certed dozens of the below set of Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris forgeries on a reproduced Safe At Home poster.

A real authenticator would laugh and dismiss this garbage in a millisecond, but Rocchi has certed dozens of these as authentic.

These are, at best, laughable.

When will all of this "Forensic" madness finally end?

Tags: aau, antiquities, caesars palace, drew max, forgeries, fraud, gfa, lawsuit, pawn stars, rocchi, More…toby stoffa

9 members like this

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 4, 2018 at 10:23am: Vegas is a drop in the bucket.

Comment by Joe W. on January 4, 2018 at 10:29am: The education is available. That comes down to the buyer.

Comment by Xwiesy on January 4, 2018 at 10:30am: Right!

There are thousands of them.

The industry is going to have a hard time policing itself when the people with the money can file endless lawsuits because let's face it, when you are signing photos and guitars yourself, your costs are minimal.

I'd love to the see the shop in Vegas' tax returns, because that would tell you a lot about who is doing what.

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 4, 2018 at 10:47am: The attorney in the case should have asked for a paper trail for the items that are now "authentic." Make the seller show how they got the items.

Comment by CJCollector on January 4, 2018 at 11:21am: There is too much money in the "Forgery Industry" for it to go away.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 4, 2018 at 11:28am: Richard,

I don’t think Antiquities or the other defendants filed a response to the lawsuit. I never saw one filed at least. It looks like it immediately went into settlement negotiations. If discovery was served I’m sure it wasn’t responded to.

Comment by Michael on January 4, 2018 at 12:26pm: I’m not a collector. I was trying to be helpful to the autograph community by providing context about my Brother’s lawsuit against Antiquities and Co. There have been many thoughtful comments on this thread, but also a few (predictable) people victim-blaming or enjoying schadenfreude, at the expense of a wealthy victim, while lauding their own integrity. Thanks for the experience! Good luck everybody!

Comment by goodcat on January 4, 2018 at 12:41pm: Michael

Don't let tuff talkn bozo's rattle you. It takes guts to up against a big company and put up more big bucks (on top of the already buying investments). Your brother is not an idiot or a "sell-out". These are obvious good crafted forgeries he bought and would take more than 5 minutes of study to identify them as such. The people who say this are the type of people that can't even positively identify signatures themselves. The people who are slamming your brother are missing the true nature of this thread. Your brother sued and WON... that is all that matters and hopefully did some serious damage to Antiquities reputation.

Congratulations!!!

Comment by Noogie on January 4, 2018 at 12:52pm: I was also a sucker that made a purchase from Antiquities, here's the link - https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/is-this-marilyn-mon...

I believe the solution to help put Antiquities out of business is to publicize and inform other unsuspecting consumers regarding the scams this business is perpetrating. Since my encounter with Antiquities I have been trying to warn others about Antiquities through Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc. The problem is over the many years Antiquities has been in business of deception and lies, they have educated themselves on how to remove my statements and others from the Internet. It's very difficult to write a bad review or comment about Antiquities without it removed within a week or two. Toby has an A+ BBB rating! She must of paid them off too.

Its true education is key to know who you're dealing with. Toby Stoffa and her company have been ripping off the public for years, but her positive reviews are deceitful lies written by her employees and friends to help her business look better than it is. If you don't believe me trying writing a negative review about Antiquities, and see if it sticks.