KYW Newsradio 1060 Philadelphia - Guilty Plea from Penna. Man in Ebay ''Autographed'' Books Scam: "A Reading, Pa. man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Philadelphia to a book fraud -- forging famous authors' signatures and selling the books on Ebay as signed originals.
Prosecutor Mark Dubnoff says there were at least a thousand victims over several years, and defendant Forrest Smith, 47, took in over $300,000 from the scam.
According to Dubnoff, Smith bought first-edition books by such authors at Truman Capote, James Michener, Norman Mailer, Tom Clancy, Tom Wolfe and others, forged their signatures, and then sold them at inflated prices on Ebay.
For example, Dubnoff says, Smith bought Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire for $46:
'He sold that same book, this time with a forged signature by Anne Rice in the book, for $566. So his profit was more than 500 dollars on this one book.'"
5 comments:
How much is a signed First of COYOTE CONNECTION?
The guy pays you to take it off his hands.
Didn't he have francises in Minneapolis and San Francisco?
Only dead people, Bob, only dead people.
When did Anne Rice pass away? Another nail in the coffin in independant bookselling.
B.Barrett
Post a Comment