Card counterfeiters busted

The FBI announced Wednesday that it has busted a ring of perpetrators involved in counterfeiting millions of dollars worth of rookie cards. However, the agency named no new forgers in its latest Operation Bullpen development, though the investigation is "ongoing." Henry Benner of El Segundo, Calif., convinced his boss Vincent Ferruccio, owner of Ferruccio and Associates, a printing business in Gardena, Calif., to counterfeit primarily Topps rookie cards of Mark McGwire, John Elway, Tony Gwynn and Dan Marino. In addition, a knockoff of a Sammy Sosa Leaf rookie card was produced.

U.S. Attorney Gregory A. Vega said during a press conference that Benner provided Ferruccio with "genuine original rookie cards to use as templates for the counterfeits. Additionally, he purchased the 23x35-inch card stock necessary for producing the counterfeit trading cards." More than 50,000 counterfeit Topps trading cards were distributed to a number of wholesalers by, among others, Jeffrey Bassman of Bassman Collectibles of Beverly Hills, Calif., Barry Goldberg of Vintage Collectibles in Santa Ana, Calif., and Richard Laughlin of Framed Images of Mission Viejo, Calif.

Tim Fitzsimmons, FBI agent in charge of Operation Bullpen, said the five conspirators bring to 32 the number of individuals, all from California, who have been busted as part of the FBI's Operation Bullpen. At the time of the initial investigation, Goldberg became a suspect as he was suspected of selling fraudulent memorabilia, Fitzsimmons said in an interview. "When we conducted our raids on Oct. 13, 1999, Goldberg was one of the guys we confronted," he added. "He led us to the other co-conspirators." They began forging the cards toward the end of 1998. The card ring probe took a little over a year, he said. The FBI also seized evidence in the form of copies of information and artwork on computers. It also has the printing plates and negatives made to produce the bogus cards.

William O'Connor, a vice president of The Topps Company, said, "This case does serve to remind consumers to deal with reputable dealers, obtain receipts, expect to pay sales tax, and remember the old saying that if something appears too good to be true, it usually is."

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's offices in San Diego also used the forum to review its Operation Bullpen successes. Hundreds of items forged by Greg Marino, the principal forger in the ring of 26 original Bullpen co-conspirators, were displayed for the gathering. The items were accompanied by letters of authenticity from Donald Frangipani of New York.

William Gore, head of the FBI office in San Diego, said that in addition to Frangipani, authenticators whose names were attached to bogus memorabilia seized in the Bullpen raids were SCAA, J. DiMaggio & Company and Forensic Document Services. To date, Wayne Bray of SCAA and James Bellino of FDS have agreed to cease doing business in sports and celebrity memorabilia, Gore said. Jim DiMaggio also is no longer authenticating memorabilia. Gore displayed a baseball forged with Mother Teresa's name on it. The item was accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the J DiMaggio company. Of the four authenticators, only Bray has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. A deferred prosecution agreement was reached with Jim Bellino. No charges have been brought against the others. Attempts to reach Frangipani by phone were unsuccessful.

Mr. Gore also noted that 17 of the original 26 co-conspirators in Operation Bullpen have been sentenced. The sentences range from probation to 41 months in prison.