American Hustle II-NYF Giants sued over memorabilia scam

[bankshot1]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/30/lawsuit-accuses-giants-eli-manning-of-distributing-fraudulent-memorabilia/
 
 

According to a a civil-racketeering, breach-of-contract, malicious-prosecution and trade-libel suit filed Wednesday in Bergen County (N.J.) Superior Court, a helmet displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton as the one Eli Manning wore in Super Bowl XLII is a fake.
The New York Post reports that sports memorabilia collector Eric Inselberg alleges that the helmet is one of many forgeries passed along by the team as they “repeatedly engaged in the distribution of fraudulent Giants memorabilia.” According to the suit, the team’s equipment manager Joe Skiba told Inselberg he created fake memorabilia at the behest of team management and players, including helmets purportedly worn by Manning in each of his Super Bowl victories, and the lawsuit includes an email that they believe shows Skiba knew he was handing over ersatz goods.
The suit also alleges that the team’s dry cleaner has been part of the activities by doctoring up jerseys to look like they’ve been worn in games before being sold. That dry cleaner, Barry Barone, is named as a defendant in the case along with Skiba, Manning, owner John Mara, team lawyer William Heller, CFO Christine Procops, locker room manager Ed Wagner Jr. and equipment manager (and Joe’s brother) Ed Skiba.

 
 

Giants treasurer Jonathan Tisch said on WFAN Thursday morning, via Neil Best ofNewsday, that the suit has no merit.

Bale as the dry-cleaner, Barry Barone sounds perfect, but who plays Eli? And there's got to be a role for Amy Adams.

 

[RedOctober3829]

That stuff is easy to do as an equipment manager.  I absolutely think they could have been involved in something like this but not any players. 

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

It's Belichick's fault.  The giants can't let him get his hands on actual game jersey's, he will study the sweat patterns to understand how different players move and how much effort they put in. 

 

[amarshal2]

If guilty, that's fraud. Almost certainly nobody will go to jail and it probably won't even be a story outside these bitter walls. But again, if guilty, that's fraud -- and normal people go to jail when guilty of fraud.

 

[jose melendez]

You know and the Giants haven't won a Super Bowl since then, which kind of makes the two they did win suspect.

 

[RedOctober3829]

You know and the Giants haven't won a Super Bowl since then, which kind of makes the two they did win suspect
 

Of course, they didn't steal signals so they are not treated like a lepper.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Sounds not much different from what the Mets equipment guy did a couple of years ago.
 

other than the "winners of a title" part

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Only fair thing to do is fine them a million bucks, take away 3 first rounders, and vacate their SB titles. It's the Goodell way.

 

[Average Reds]

If guilty, that's fraud. Almost certainly nobody will go to jail and it probably won't even be a story outside these bitter walls. But again, if guilty, that's fraud -- and normal people go to jail when guilty of fraud.

 
If I read it right, this litigation is going to be extremely uncomfortable for the Giants.
 
After Inselberg was indicted for selling forged memorabilia, he was kind of thrown to the Wolves by the Giants.  But prosecutors ultimately dropped the case because they came around to his viewpoint - which was that he was an innocent dupe in the scheme being orchestrated by the Giants.  And prosecutors don't drop cases before trial unless they see pretty solid evidence refuting their theory of the case.
 
The point is that there may be many facts we don't know here, but the one thing we know for certain is that when Jonathan Tisch, Eli Manning and others say that there is "no merit" to his claims, that's provably false.
 
I will be shocked if the Giants don't eventually pay this guy to go away.

 

[Reverend]

Why would the Giants do this? Don't NFL franchises basically print money? Is there that much more money to be made in the used memorabilia market to make this worth it? And I mean, defrauding the Hall of Fame? Is there some equivalent of collectors stolen Nazi art who pay ridiculous sums for special football antiquities that they keep in their private collection and simply don't tell anyone about?
 
Also, how high does this go? I mean, the Maras are supposed to be as classy an ownership group as the league has, yeah? This is like hearing that Bob Kraft got popped for pawning off diet pills as ecstacy to teenagers outside of Gillette. 

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Of course, they didn't steal signals so they are not treated like a lepper.

A horse skilled at jumping?

http://i.word.com/idictionary/lepper

 

[RedOctober3829]

A horse skilled at jumping?

http://i.word.com/idictionary/lepper

I was more going for the former Polish deputy prime minister

 

[EvilEmpire]

Of course, they didn't steal signals so they are not treated like a lepper.

It's always about the laundry around here.