How the memorabilia business is racing to block counterfeiters
how-the-memorabilia-business-is-racing-to-block-counterfeiters
Two Michigan brothers admitted in federal court last week that they spent 15 years peddling forged baseballs and bats supposedly signed by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner and Cy Young. Donald and Mark Henkel each entered a guilty plea—mail fraud for Donald, wire fraud for Mark—before the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
According to prosecutors, the pair used vintage pens, fake provenance documents and “straw sellers” to make the items appear legitimate, sometimes collecting about $120,000 for a single lot. In their plea agreements, Donald cited $780,000 in losses to victims; Mark listed $332,500. A third defendant, Raymond Paparella, has a status hearing set for March 11.
Other recent fraud probes
• Indiana: Investigators say Brett Lemieux, owner of Mister Mancave LLC, moved millions in counterfeit memorabilia, recreating holograms from Fanatics, TriStar, JSA, Panini and Steiner Sports. Lemieux boasted online of selling more than four million items worth $350 million and claimed to forge signatures eight hours a day. He was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot; police are still cataloging evidence.
• Texas: Wendell Gidden-Rogers and Lisa Skolnick were charged in January 2025 with trademark counterfeiting after officers in McKinney uncovered thousands of fake items and bogus certificates. Beckett Authentication Services sued them for trademark infringement and, in November, won nearly $600,000 in damages and fees.
Industry tightens defenses
Authentication leaders say a pandemic-era surge in collecting, plus easy online sales, has attracted sophisticated counterfeiters. Ryan Hoge, president of grading and authentication at Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), warned that “where there’s money to be made,” bad actors will surface.
Companies now rely on multiple layers of protection:
• PSA photographs every incoming item and matches hologram numbers to those images. Signings are increasingly held under company cameras to build archives of authentic signatures.
• Beckett introduced tamper-proof holograms in 2021 and agreed to be acquired by PSA’s parent in December. Principal authenticator Steve Grad said most fake pieces lack matching certificate stickers.
• Fanatics recently overhauled its hologram system. President of specialty business Zohar Ravid said counterfeit monitoring teams flagged Lemieux more than two years ago and helped shut down his online accounts.
• Upper Deck, Heritage Auctions and others employ photo-matching, chemical analyses, cease-and-desist actions and constant scans of marketplaces from eBay to TikTok. Heritage’s Chris Ivy noted the firm rejects up to 30 percent of autographs and half of game-worn items after testing.
• New technologies include epoxy discs with diamond nanoparticles from Metabilia, embedded jersey chips from MatchWornShirt and proprietary chemical markers from startup The Realest.
Despite the upgrades, Upper Deck president Jason Masherah cautioned that forgers quickly adapt: “Whenever there’s money involved, the fraudsters always evolve.”
Source: ESPN
