Collectors make their cases in memorabilia fraud lawsuit against Eli the thief

[edjr 5,564]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22426326/new-york-giants-collectors-trade-barbs-memorabilia-fraud-lawsuit

 

 

 

 

 

Lawyers for the New York Giants and for the collectors suing the team, quarterback Eli Manning and others for alleged memorabilia fraud traded barbs in court filings this week.

The collectors' lawyers continued to assert their claims that Manning, the Giants, their equipment director and Steiner Sports were complicit in memorabilia fraud. The Giants' attorneys, in their most extensive filing to date, maintained that those suing them have yet to prove they've done anything wrong.

The Giants are hoping to convince the New Jersey Superior Court judge to issue a summary judgment and avoid a civil trial. The plaintiffs, meanwhile, are hoping to prove they have enough evidence to proceed to trial, scheduled to begin in less than six weeks.

Along with producing transcripts of their depositions Monday, the plaintiffs introduced the findings of John Robinson of Resolution Photo-Matching. Robinson, an expert witness for the plaintiffs, said that photos of four out of five helmets didn't match what was sold as game-used Eli Manning pieces, and that Manning likely never used them in a game.

The plaintiffs are three Giants collectors, including Eric Inselberg, who says he bought thousands of pieces of memorabilia from the Giants' equipment managers. They allege that the Giants and equipment director Joe Skiba were complicit in the manufacturing of fake memorabilia and showed negligence.

As evidence, they presented the deposition of Skiba, who said he was asked by Giants media relations director Pat Hanlon "to put together a game-issued Eli Manning Super Bowl helmet" for an exhibit, which Skiba said he provided. The request was made in the spring of 2008, months after the Giants' Super Bowl XLII victory. The Super Bowl helmet, which the Giants represented as the genuine article, wound up in the Hall of Fame. In recent months, the Hall of Fame's website page that featured a description of the helmet was deleted.

The plaintiffs' attorneys also introduced the deposition of Giants president and CEO John Mara, taken in December, in which Mara said he wasn't aware that there was any memorabilia controversy until the lawsuit was filed, even though the plaintiffs show that the Giants' in-house counsel Bill Heller received a letter on the topic as early as 2011.

Attorneys from McCarter & English -- representing the Giants, Mara and Heller -- said in a rebuttal filed to the court Tuesday that these details weren't relevant, because the collectors have not presented any evidence the Giants sold anything fake since 2011.

"Plaintiffs have put forward no evidence supporting the proposition that engaging in memorabilia fraud is the kind of task that any Giants employee was ever employed or otherwise authorized to perform," the attorneys argue in the filing.

The helmet that wound up in the Hall of Fame was never sold, and any memorabilia the Giants sold would not have been a profit engine, as any proceeds went to the team's charity.

Inselberg, who was involved with a helmet patent venture with Skiba and believes he is owed a commission from the Giants' sponsorship deal with JP Morgan Chase, connects Skiba and the Giants to Manning and memorabilia company Steiner Sports through an email in which he asks Skiba if game-used memorabilia being sold by Steiner are the genuine articles. Skiba responded that they are "the BS ones," a phrase the Giants' attorneys say does not prove any fraud.

The Giants are not representing Skiba -- Mara said in his deposition that he considered what Skiba did stealing from the team -- nor are they representing Manning and Steiner, who were involved in a deal in which Manning gave his game-used memorabilia to the company as part of his contract. Manning and Steiner have maintained that they did not knowingly present fabricated memorabilia as game-used.

"After over a year of discovery, and hiring their own expert, the Giants still haven't shown that Eli Manning gave a single real helmet to Steiner Sports," Brian C. Brook of Clinton Brook and Peed, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told ESPN.

Brook said Steiner Sports has another helmet, sold as a 2010 game-used helmet worn by Manning, that a customer returned in May of last year. Brook alleges the company has concealed the helmet from discovery. Last month, Brook filed a motion to compel Steiner to share information on the returned helmet.

Brandon Steiner of Steiner Sports said he has no comment. Steiner insisted in his deposition, taken in September and released Monday, that he stands by Manning because of what he knows of him as a person.

"There are some people who you trust emphatically and Eli is one of them," Steiner said in his deposition.

Much of Manning's testimony was redacted from public consumption. Any correspondence with or questions about the NFL's involvement in the case were also redacted in the depositions.

When Inselberg saw the Giants display a Manning Super Bowl XLII helmet, he asked the team to write him a note saying that his was the real one. They declined.

Inselberg also bought a helmet from Steiner that was said to have been used by Manning during the 2011 season, which culminated in another Super Bowl title. Robinson found that the helmet didn't match the photos from any game that season.

The Giants' expert witness for memorabilia is Troy Kinunen, who in his deposition said that relying solely on photomatching to assess a jersey's or helmet's authenticity is faulty.

 

 

Lying thief scum. No surprise.

[Mike Honcho 4,034]

* coming?

[edjr 5,564]

* coming?

 

Is that some shortcut for losing draft picks or a fine?

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

18-1

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Giants/Maras vs Memorabilia peddlers. And we all thought the SB was the least desirable matchup in our lifetime.

[shotsup 832]

Knew a Cheatriots fan started this thread. I was right.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

Not that he deserves to be in, but this should keep him out of the HOF.

[TD Ryan2 314]

the New Jersey Giants ownership and management was in on this from the get go... it was a significant source of supplemental income for Eli beyond what was accounted for in the salary cap... this is gonna' blow up.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

Which hurts more, losing to the Giants or the Eagles? 1-3

[lickin_starfish 1,480]

What kind of loser buys sports memorabilia?

[mighty_thor 115]

Peyton Manning sexually assaults a Tennessee Doctor and had HGH delivered to his house.

Eli commits fraud.

crickets

 

Tom Brady was suspended without proof for conspiring to deflate a football.

 

[edjr 5,564]

Peyton Manning sexually assaults a Tennessee Doctor and had HGH delivered to his house.

Eli commits fraud.

crickets

 

Tom Brady was suspended without proof for conspiring to deflate a football.

 

 

Manning's are ugly, no one has ever been jealous of them

[kutulu 1,545]

Not sure about this case but he definitely stole some jewelry from New England.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

Not sure about this case but he definitely stole some jewelry from New England.

Ha ha! Nice. 18/1 biches, 1-3. That's what you get when you play the big boys.

[shotsup 832]

the New Jersey Giants ownership and management was in on this from the get go... it was a significant source of supplemental income for Eli beyond what was accounted for in the salary cap... this is gonna' blow up.

Oh stop. Ignorance.

[shotsup 832]

Not sure about this case but he definitely stole some jewelry from New England.

Dilly dilly

[edjr 5,564]

Trial starts next week

I am sure Goodell is waiting to see what happens, to see if a suspension is warranted.

[GobbleDog 816]

I used to root for Eli, before I learned he's a greedy lying piece of sh*t.

 

Fraud? He should be expelled from the league.

[edjr 5,564]

There is no Fraudulent Theif without ELI

[Kanil 519]

Just another example of Brady lovers trying to ruin the great Manning legacy. The Mannings being footballs first family doesn't mean Brady can't be good too, (even if he's just barely cracking top 5 all time). There's no reason to direct so much hate toward the Mannings just because Peyton is GOAT.

[drobeski 3,061]

Just another example of Brady lovers trying to ruin the great Manning legacy. The Mannings being footballs first family doesn't mean Brady can't be good too, (even if he's just barely cracking top 5 all time). There's no reason to direct so much hate toward the Mannings just because Peyton is GOAT.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Mara has already told Goodell to suspend Eli without pay, you know, for the good of the league.

[edjr 5,564]

Mara has already told Goodell to suspend Eli without pay, you know, for the good of the league.

 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

It still stings. Lol.

[patweisers44 697]

Solidly in the top ten of stupid faces (sports category) of all-time.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

Solidly in the top ten of stupid faces (sports category) of all-time.

We should have a draft.

[edjr 5,564]

Settlement reached in Eli Manning memorabilia fraud lawsuit

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23506027/settlement-reached-eli-manning-memorabilia-fraud-lawsuit

 

 

 

Three sports memorabilia collectors who accused New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning of providing bogus "game-worn" equipment that was sold to unsuspecting fans settled their lawsuit against the Super Bowl-winning quarterback on Monday, days before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

A spokesman for the defendants, a group that included Manning, the Giants, two equipment managers and Steiner Sports, the company with whom Manning is under contract to provide game-worn jerseys and helmets for sale, said Monday night that a settlement had been reached to resolve the claims. Details were not given.

The attorneys for both sides issued a joint statement that read: "[Plaintiffs] Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown have resolved all claims in their pending litigation against the New York Giants, Eli Manning, John Mara, William Heller, Joseph Skiba, Edward Skiba and Steiner Sports, in accordance with a confidential settlement agreement reached today. The compromise agreement, entered into by all parties, should not be viewed as supporting any allegations, claims or defenses."

"All parties are grateful to have the matter, which began in 2014, concluded and are now focused on football, the fans and the future," the statement added.

Inselberg, Jakab and Godown had sought triple the amount of their alleged losses -- which totaled less than $20,000 combined -- for buying two helmets billed as worn by Manning. They also had sought punitive damages and claimed in court filings they would produce evidence that would "show that Manning engaged in a pattern of knowingly providing items to Steiner Sports that he misrepresented as having been game-used when he knew they were not."

Manning and the Giants had denied the allegations and characterized the suit as "inflammatory and baseless" in court filings.

Jury selection was to have begun this week, but a death in the family of one of the attorneys had pushed that back to next Monday.

Fourteen lawyers representing all parties involved in the case gathered Monday at the Bergen County Justice Center for the first day of the civil suit. The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Brian Brook, said after the judge went over the logistics and housekeeping that he had been receiving the "silent treatment" from the other side. Brook said he had never experienced anything like it.

When they left the courthouse before noon, there was little optimism from all parties involved that a settlement would soon be reached. Nine hours later, however, it was finished.

Inselberg filed the lawsuit in 2014. The suit claimed two helmets purchased by Inselberg and the two other plaintiffs -- including one purportedly used by Manning during the Giants' 2007 Super Bowl season -- were bogus. Inselberg alleged photographic experts, using a technique called "photomatching," could not find evidence that the helmets were ever used in games.

The Giants and Manning contend photomatching is unreliable because it does not take into account that helmets are routinely reconditioned during or after a season, the evidence of which might be found on the inside of the helmet and not the outside.

The stakes were raised in the lawsuit in April 2017 when Inselberg's attorneys filed court documents that contained emails between Manning and equipment manager Joseph Skiba, who also was a defendant in the lawsuit. In one email, Manning asks Skiba to get "2 helmets that can pass as game used."

The email does not refer to the two helmets at issue in the lawsuit, but Inselberg alleged it indicated a pattern of fraud.

When the emails went public last year, Manning angrily denied any wrongdoing. In a court filing this month, Manning's attorney wrote that the email was intended to ask Skiba for two game-used helmets that would "satisfy the requirement of being game-used."

"Manning never instructed Joe Skiba to create any fraudulent memorabilia," attorney Robert Lawrence wrote. "Rather, Manning believed that if he asked Joe Skiba for his helmets, he received his game-used helmets and that the helmets he received from Skiba were his game-used helmets."

In the same court filing, Manning's lawyer accused Inselberg of being "engaged in a decades-long memorabilia scheme" in which he obtained, without permission, game-used Giants equipment, including Manning's, from Skiba and Skiba's brother, Ed, as well as a local dry cleaner.

 

 

 

Innocent people always settle.

[drobeski 3,061]

4 games minimum

[edjr 5,564]

Can't spelly Thiefly without eli

[Cruzer 1,992]

Brady and Zeke fought their accusers - just saying.

[edjr 5,564]

Brady and Zeke fought their accusers - just saying.

 

so didn't Greg Hardy

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

We're on to Jacksonville. Non story.

[kutulu 1,545]

Slippery fock off and on the field