We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks.

FBI Investigating American Royal Arts, Christopher Morales and Others Over Rock and Roll Forgeries

The rumors circulating autograph hobby are true. Since 2008, the New York Office of the FBI has been investigating Florida-based autograph and memorabilia gallery chain American Royal Arts and its owner, Jerry Gladstone, over the suspected trafficking in rock and roll forgeries. According to marketing claims by Gladstone, American Royal Arts was the world's largest seller of signed music memorabilia, specializing autographs of the Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Eagles and other in-demand rock bands and artists.

The FBI typically doesn't publicly acknowledge or discuss an open investigation unless and until they issue arrest warrants. No arrest warrants have been issued that I'm aware of, and it's always possible that none will be. Nothing I'm discussing here has come directly from the FBI. Everything comes from our own investigation and interviews.

The FBI's more than 30 month investigation has grown to include ARA associates and authenticators, including forensic document examiners Christopher Morales and E'lyn Bryan, ARA's memorabilia suppliers, and others from Florida to Hawaii.

The FBI raided American Royal Arts' headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., in late February, 2010, and around the same time served document subpoenas on Christopher Morales in Falls Church, Va., where he maintains his office. We believe that E'Lyn Bryan, also of Boca Raton, was served with document subpoenas around that time.

On August 14, ARA filed an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, which is a filing in Florida courts similar to a Chapter 7 filing in Federal Bankruptcy Court. In a related deposition on Sept. 7, ARA executive Agnes Palmer reportedly testified that a result of the FBI's subpoena, approximately 90-percent of ARA's autograph inventory was either seized by the FBI, ordered held under subpoena and stored at their headquarters, or determined by ARA to be unsalable.

According to Gladstone over several phone conversations with me—one with historical autograph dealer John Reznikoff serving as "referee"—ARA purchased most of their rock autographs from Heroes and Legends in Calif., owned by Myron Ross; Forever Legends in Calif., owned by Maria Brockway; Autograph Central in Ill., owned by Bryan Slaven; and Gallery of Dreams in Calif., owned by Bruce Hall. Until late 2009, Christopher Morales was listed on Gallery of Dreams' Executive Profiles Web page as their authenticator.

Brockway and Slaven are convicted felons.

We have also found evidence linking Rock Star Gallery in Phoenix, Ariz., as a source of ARA's autographed items.

According to Gladstone, Gallery of Dreams was the source of the forged autographed guitars, and altered rock artist signing photos that ARA used to sell them that were the subject of ABC News 20/20 and Inside Edition television reports in late 2009.

I received a surprise phone call from Gladstone last May, in which he thanked me for discovering the photoshopped signing photos and said that he had discovered he was a victim of fraud by his suppliers, claiming they sold him forgeries without his knowledge.

Common sense and Gladstone's aggressive actions over the years against Frank Caiazzo, Autograph, me, personally, and others make his lack of knowledge of the fraud hard for me to believe. But if the FBI's investigations result in indictments, that will be for a court to decide.

A number of respected members of the autograph hobby have been involved in the FBI investigation. Most important of all, the dealer who brought ARA and Morales to the FBI's attention. A member of Autograph Magazine Live!, I won't mention his name without his permission, or name most of the others involved at this time.

I became aware of the investigation several months in, when I got a call from FBI Special Agent Jim Wynne. One of Jim's specialties is art and collectables crime, and I couldn't be more impressed with his skill, intelligence and dedication. I've had the privilege of helping by finding victims, connections and evidence since then. It's something I'll never forget. I've chosen to keep the story under wraps until recently, so not deter the FBI's investigation. That's not typically what a journalist does; our job is to report the news as quickly and fully as possible. I hope you'll understand and forgive my delay. Even now, I'm limited in what I can share with you.

I'll tell you more about it soon, but it's 4 a.m. and want to get a little shuteye. But before I sign-off, I want to thank someone who has not only been my right hand through much of my efforts; he has selflessly paid the price of his incredibly generous cooperation. I didn't ask his permission to mention his name, but hopefully he won't mind:

Roger Epperson
Not only has Roger been there whenever I needed him to give me his opinion on autographs and provide leads, he has helped many victims of unscrupulous dealers recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds on forgeries.

Roger's efforts and willingness to speak his mind have made him the music forgery industry's Public Enemy No. 1. Roger has been the subject of fraudulent so-called "stings," and defamed on fraud industry propaganda sites Autograph Alert and IADA by Gladstone associates Stephen Koschal and Michael Frost; as well as one that Gladstone admitted that he controls, Behind the Gavel.

They tried to ruin him...but they couldn't.

Roger, I can't thank you enough for all your help, and all you've done to help collectors.

Comment by CJCollector on October 1, 2010 at 10:05am: For DB. You write that I'm being "A little too heavy-handed with the Ebay buyers." I'm being easy on them when I write that.

By the way, what are these "penalties" that you refer to?

Comment by DB on October 1, 2010 at 10:19am: Publishing ebay seller names in the forums can (& has resulted) in buying/selling restrictions (and deactivation) in the past. Having been threatened a few times over the violation of the ebay polices.... In someway that makes sense as popel would start posting names they might be having a feud with. Then again, I have consistently suggested a wall of fame for fraudulent sales (to which they have replied that they deal soley with all law enforcement agencies however such information is not released yadda yadda yadda.

The part I was referring to, "The majority of people who buy autographs on Ebay have absolutely no common sense. A little bit of common sense dictates that if a seller has sold over 1,000 signed photos in two months that it should raise a red flag." as EBAY itself bestows ratings of excellence on these sellers which in and of itself has problems as well as different meanings as you well know.

Comment by scott on October 1, 2010 at 10:36am: I did not make any purchases on ebay because I did not have any faith in the merchants. I filed a complaint with the BBB and got Rock Star Gallery rated an F for about five days. After that it was rated a B again without the BBB even recognizing that a complaint had been filed. I also wrote a negative review of the company on merchantcircle. Mr. Dunn has to approve the comment before it is posted. I never thought that it would do much good, but a few people would have read it an investigated further. The ebay sites are a little confusing because the sellers can have hundreds of positive reviews. If consumers think what they are buying is real, they are not going to write a negative review. Most of them are very happy with their purchases and do not give it a second thought.

Consumers need to be better informed about autograph collecting. It is very difficult to get your money back once you discover that the merchandise is not authentic. Why doesn't Consumer Reports have an article about autograph collecting?

Comment by CJCollector on October 1, 2010 at 10:38am: I appreciate your reply. Are you referring to all forums? I find that difficult to believe since Ebay has always proclaimed itself an "open forum." They are public domain. Ebay contradicts it's own so-called regulations and policies. Here's one example; Look at Ebay item number 150469329056. A Mantle, DiMaggio & Williams signed (none of the sigs are authentic) photo with a COA from "Stat Authentic." "Stat Authentic" is a banned.barred COA as per Ebay policy. Look at item number 280566467575. Mantle signed (not authentic) photo with a COA from "Forensic Document Services." "Forensic Document Services" is a banned/barred COA as per Ebay policy. This happens on a daily basis. Ebay has made tens of millions of dollars from the sales of forgeries and they're going to tell me that I can't mention a seller's name in a forum!!! I mention them all of the time and let Ebay come after me. And I'll say this, too, Ebay autograph buyers are not the sharpest tools in the shed.

Comment by CJCollector on October 1, 2010 at 10:43am: Well written, Scott. The majority of autograph buyers think that because it's being sold on Ebay and because it comes with a COA, and because the autograph "looks good" that what they purchased is authentic.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 1, 2010 at 10:57am: EBay buyers are Einsteins compared to Coach's Corner buyers.

Comment by CJCollector on October 1, 2010 at 11:02am: True, Steve, but a lot of Coach's Corner buyers have an agenda, and that agenda is flipping that garbage in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

Comment by scott on October 1, 2010 at 11:20am: I would also like to point out that American Royal Arts is a BBB accredited business with an A+ rating. The BBB currently has no information regarding government actions at this time. I do not see how this is possible after reading this article. It does not seem like the BBB is doing their job. I will never believe a positive BBB rating again. I will still value a negative review by the BBB. Autograph Central is rated an F. How bad you have to be to get that rating I do not know?

Someone who is very smart and knowledgable needs to come up with a plan of action. A lot of my time and energy has been wasted on fruitless pursuits. I think that it is the autograph professionals who need to take the lead. They are the experts and companies like Consumer Reports should value their opinion. I have worked very hard to do the right thing. I see why most people give up after a week or two of wasted efforts.

I would like to thank those who are working very hard to fight this problem. I know that they do not have to and would probably be better off if they didn't say anything.

Comment by john reznikoff on October 1, 2010 at 11:27am: DB, and Chris:

I like the wall of shame idea but we would have to make it bug proof. Dont be afraid to use "who's" name. Todd and I referred to him for a whole year as "who" . You know, the same way you respond when someone unimportant is mentioned ...you say "who"? Anyway the forgers protectors name is Steve Koschal. For all those newbies watching he is a liar who uses zero facts and is a rabid anti-semite, although he ridiculously says that others are to hide his own deep feelings. As I said before, Todd told me that "who" wants to go fight for "Hamas" . Enough about him, or "who" more appropriately.

Comment by CJCollector on October 1, 2010 at 11:32am: I, for one, have never, and will never, keep quiet on this subject. The one obstacle has always been the "forensic document and court-approved examiner." In my opinion it is a title and nothing else. The "forensic examiners" that I am aware of that examine (my field) sports autographs are at best "unimpressive." A "forensic examiner" authenticated the below item. Enough said.

http://www.myccsa.com/Lot.aspx?LotID=228941

Comment