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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 Jason Charnick on January 8, 2018 at 10:08pm

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 8, 2018 at 10:08pm

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 8, 2018 at 10:08pm

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 8, 2018 at 10:08pm

Comment by Barry S on January 9, 2018 at 6:37am: Nice Jason. I did the same in San Fran a couple of years ago, nothing authentic. I went back a few months ago and they are now closed. Some of the items you saw may have came from there. I often wonder if The a Great Zoltar knew they were going to close? Is there a Zoltar out front in Vegas?

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 9, 2018 at 10:39am: Thanks Barry! Yes, I think I did see a Zoltar in the shop... they do have some nice stuff outside of the crap graphs, but obviously there's no way I was ever gonna spend a penny in there... funny you bring up Zoltar too, they also had a cast signed Big poster, and I was just about to take a shot of it to send to David Moscow, who played the lead kid before he became Tom Hanks, when a clerk came right up behind me and I had to hide my phone. I went to elementary school with him and we're friends on Facebook. I wanted to send it to him to get an authentication straight from the source!

Comment by Barry S on January 10, 2018 at 7:09am: Wow that’s cool! I’d love to hear what he would say. I jumped on their site and found it, I’m sure it’s the one you saw. http://cdn3.bigcommerce.com/s-ov8fxr/products/2794/images/8625/BigS...

Comment by Don Webster on January 10, 2018 at 8:32am: Nice work Jason!!

You're right about the clerks making contact with you as soon as they are able to do so.

Did they ask you if you were "on file" or were in "their system"??

They want contact info to send you updates on your favorite artist.

"You won't believe what's just come into the shop"!!

And why not? 4/5 thousand $$$ for something next to worthless is a good return!

Great photos - thanks!

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 10, 2018 at 8:36am: If those "clerks" (I call them con men and women) don't make sales, I am sure they do not eat :).

Comment by Ian Baldock on January 10, 2018 at 10:23am: I was in a store by Mandalay Bay years ago and was told to leave when I saw a horrid Eagles signed guitar and blurted out no way. A young long haired man asked me to leave as he lectured me how all of the stuff there is 100% genuine.They bring in Pete Rose to make it seem legit but I have a different opinion.