Mass Resignations, Lives Threatened as AFTAL is Hijacked During Behind the Scenes Forgery Investigation

Formed with the stated goal of stamping out fake autographs, AFTAL, the Autograph Fair Trade Alliance, attracted many of UK's and Europe's most reputable dealers as members. But while the vast majority of AFTAL dealers lived its stated goal, including a recognized expert used by law enforcement to testify against the forgery industry, AFTAL's two primary founders, Dominic Manning and Marc Mclennan, used it as cover to sell and authenticate thousands of forgeries. Manning has seized control of the organization after an AFTAL steering committee found that he sold hundreds of fake Michael Jackson autographs he claimed to have gotten in person. And like a mansion built on quicksand, AFTAL is crumbling.

As the legally listed head of AFTAL, Manning, owner of Behind the Scenes Autographs, disbanded the steering committee last week that was formed in December by boardmember Garry King after Manning and another boardmember were forced to resign. Manning then reportedly had AFTAL's lawyer slap a suppression order (gag order) on the former members of the committee, forbidding them to talk publicly about Manning's actions or their determination that the Michael Jacksons Manning sold were forgeries.

In the UK, even revealing that you are under a suppression order can have you held in contempt of court, so little information about it has come out and no public documents appear to be available. But the sudden silence of former steering members who used to speak to me confirms its existence in my mind.

Events have taken a violent turn. Several autograph dealers have reportedly been threatened by Manning or the source of the forgeries, Adrian Longden, and police reports have been filed. At least one victim is in fear of his life.

Roughly a third of AFTAL members have resigned or are in the process of doing so, and many more are anticipated to resign as they hear about the scandal.

Stay tuned for more. Autograph Magazine is preparing a list of current and former AFTAL dealers considered reputable. Please message me if you would like to be considered for this list.

For more details on AFTAL's actions and the Dominic Manning/Adrian Longden forgeries, read the following Autograph Magazine Live! discussions:

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Comment by Rich on February 4, 2013 at 7:17pm: Yep, including Behind the Scenes.

Comment by Robert McCluskey on February 4, 2013 at 8:32pm: Would the UACC have the nerve to even think about commenting about fakers in another organisation ? They'd be laughed out of existence.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 4, 2013 at 8:47pm: Regarding Marc Mclennan: I didn't mean to imply that he was part of Dominic Manning's hijacking of AFTAL. I heard a few weeks ago that he was doing what he could to help the steering committee and it sounds like he's continuing to do so. But he is a major seller and authenticator of forgeries and no better than Manning.

Comment by Brandon Mysinger on February 4, 2013 at 8:54pm: So, did the steering committee not know this about Mark? Surely, they had seen material he offered.

Comment by Rick Meyer on February 4, 2013 at 9:08pm: UACC would no way comment. Many of their dealers selling forgeries to. Some just haven't been caught yet.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 4, 2013 at 9:14pm: Robert,

I'm not aware of any US dealer stocking Adrian Michael Jackson forgeries, but there are thousands of dealers out there. The best way to find out may be to type "Michael Jackson" in the search box at top right, and look at all the examples posted. This site opened in 2009 and hundreds if not thousands of MJ autographs have been posted, so you might find some leads there.

The first ones I'm aware of were posted in March or April 2012 by a collector in the UK. I mentioned it to AFTAL at the time, but they had 100% confidence in Dominic Manning at that point.

Comment by Robert McCluskey on February 4, 2013 at 9:34pm: Steve, it doesn't hold enough interest for me to be honest as it's not something I will ever buy or sell. I come across scumbags everyday who are making life hell for dealers and collectors and have no doubt at all that all the regular fakers have a continuous supply of anyone they want !

I'm more interested in the guys that we all trust, or the guys we are supposed to trust... moreso if any of the well known US dealers were supplied by Adrian or if they obtained stock in a similar manner to what we were told (that is by passing photos to security to get signed and picking them up later).

Of course it won't be in any dealers interest now to own up to this, but things do have a way of coming out - I'm just surprised, given the amount of time Adrian spent in the US that none of these items have shown up over there (yet) and that nobody here has seen any US sites offering them.

It just seem odd, I guess, is my point. Maybe they did all go to UK dealers.

Comment by Mike P on February 4, 2013 at 9:50pm: Was there ever a decision on supplied item by Adrian and/or Dominic?

These events are shocking to me as I have been a supporter of AFTAL for several years. Despite being good dealers, it seems that it may be too much of a risk to even get involved in my opinion.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 4, 2013 at 9:58pm: Robert,

I think the difference is that most US dealers that repeatedly buy forgeries from the same suppliers know they're selling forgeries. Third party authentication is popular here for music, entertainment and sports, and if the dealer doesn't sell it certified, there's a good chance the collector will submit it.

Dominic Manning was in a powerful position as a founder of AFTAL. He said he got them in person, and as I understand it, his word was beyond reproach for years. Since there are no commonly used legitimate third party authenticators in the UK, the fraud went on unabated until it was called out on Autograph Magazine Live.

Comment by Robert McCluskey on February 4, 2013 at 10:20pm: Yes, that's why I'm not too concerned with the guys we know who sell fakes knowingly, I have never had an issue in shouting their names from the rooftops as there's not a cat in hells chance they will argue their corner either in public and certainly not in court.

It is the respectable dealers that concern me - the ones who have 100% unknowingly been stung and who have paid market (well, trade) prices for their stock. Are any of these carrying (alleged) tainted MJ stock ?

Don't get me wrong Steve, I'm anti-fake wherever it is, whatever it is. There just seems to be a huge silence from American dealers on this matter. The comments on here seem to be primarily from collectors. I don't know Adrian, I've never spoken to him and, as mentioned elsewhere, until a few weeks ago I hadn't even heard his name as I don't mix in those circles, so as a UK dealer I feel able to look at this impartially and try and see the overall picture.

This leads to one of 3 conclusions.

- No well known and respectable US dealers have bought from Adrian.

- They have bought from him but want to remain under the radar.

- They have bought from him but are unaware of any problem.

Maybe this is for another discussion, sorry to go slightly off-topic !