PROBATION DISCUSSIONS 21 21

[jaybuck43]

I'm pretty sure he was nominated for the PL, so I see no reason not to add him to the PL. Based on what Peter posted, I highly doubt we will see him back here again so I don't know if HoS is necessary, though that doesn't change that I feel confident that he would be voted in if someone nominated. If someone thinks it is HoS worthy, then they should write up and put up the poll.

[crassus]

He was added to the PL by Sha on 1 March.

[jaybuck43]

He was added to the PL by Sha on 1 March.

 

Thanks Crassus

[thehumantorch]

So CGC has legally parted ways with Akoni..

 

If someone could give a brief summary I am curious what has happened with this. I have read the specific complaints here in the PL but I'm not familiar with the general picture. Has he walked away from clients and obligations? Are there extenuating circumstances?

 

For a couple of years, Akoni Kaholo (kaholo1256) was a witness/facilitator in good standing with CGC...particularly the Signature Series program.

 

Back in the middle of 2015, he advertised a sketch opportunity with Kevin Eastman. He took (a lot) of money and books to be signed and/or sketched on. This was normal as Akoni Kaholo had taken many submissions of this nature in the past and never had any problems.

 

While getting these done, Akoni Kaholo continued to accept submissions for other shows he'd be attending in order to get them signed for clients.

 

Many of the original books from the first Eastman sketch opportunity were completed and group photos were posted. Originally, he was to submit this directly to CGC via the mail. Then, he was to bring them to Baltimore Comic Con for on-site grading. Then, he was to bring them to NYCC for submission. None of these things happened. Akoni Kaholo went silent after that.

 

Many clients started posting in his threads asking for updates with no response. PM's went unread and phone calls were dodged.

 

I nominated Akoni Kaholo for the probation list back in December. This prompted a response from him where he basically said "my bad all, I'll get these right out and get things straightened out". He immediately went silent again.

 

When enough people asked questions, it surfaced that Akoni Kaholo had MANY outstanding bills waiting to be paid at CGC and from the looks of it, he had no intention of paying them. He had many already-graded books that needed payment before being shipped. Many more books were sitting in boxes at his house waiting to be submitted.

 

I've heard many figures thrown out, but it sounds like the total cost of all the bills, signing fees, and the value of the books he was responsible for that were outstanding was around the $100K mark.

 

Former friends of his who also work with CGC regularly stepped in and got many CGC invoices paid and the books returned to the owners. They funded some of this by taking possession of his personal books and selling them (on Facebook).

 

I believe the majority of books have been returned, but there are a few instances where Akoni Kaholo lied to get additional submissions. That's my situation. I and several others are currently waiting on refunds that may or may not come as a result of Akoni's lies where he purposefully solicited submissions that he had no intention of completing.

 

CGC has issued a letter to Akoni Kaholo saying he is no longer allowed to witness or facilitate for them. It's unclear to me whether or not he's allowed to submit to them anymore, but from the sounds of it, Akoni is looking to just brush his hands of the whole situation and leave it all behind.

 

Many thanks for posting this, I appreciate it.

 

I also appreciate the information. Didn't realize how big the problem was.

[thehumantorch]

As far as Akoni goes, is he being nominated for the PL or HOS? It may not matter either way since it sounds unlikely he would ever be removed from the PL but I'm just curious due to the number of people affected and dollar amount.

 

 

Sure sounds HOS worthy to me. Large number of people affected, large $$ amount, no ultimate attempt by Akoni to solve the problem, and accepting further submissions he had no intention of completing.

 

Can't imagine a more worthy nomination to the HOS.

[revat]

So CGC has legally parted ways with Akoni..

 

If someone could give a brief summary I am curious what has happened with this. I have read the specific complaints here in the PL but I'm not familiar with the general picture. Has he walked away from clients and obligations? Are there extenuating circumstances?

 

For a couple of years, Akoni Kaholo (kaholo1256) was a witness/facilitator in good standing with CGC...particularly the Signature Series program.

 

Back in the middle of 2015, he advertised a sketch opportunity with Kevin Eastman. He took (a lot) of money and books to be signed and/or sketched on. This was normal as Akoni Kaholo had taken many submissions of this nature in the past and never had any problems.

 

While getting these done, Akoni Kaholo continued to accept submissions for other shows he'd be attending in order to get them signed for clients.

 

Many of the original books from the first Eastman sketch opportunity were completed and group photos were posted. Originally, he was to submit this directly to CGC via the mail. Then, he was to bring them to Baltimore Comic Con for on-site grading. Then, he was to bring them to NYCC for submission. None of these things happened. Akoni Kaholo went silent after that.

 

Many clients started posting in his threads asking for updates with no response. PM's went unread and phone calls were dodged.

 

I nominated Akoni Kaholo for the probation list back in December. This prompted a response from him where he basically said "my bad all, I'll get these right out and get things straightened out". He immediately went silent again.

 

When enough people asked questions, it surfaced that Akoni Kaholo had MANY outstanding bills waiting to be paid at CGC and from the looks of it, he had no intention of paying them. He had many already-graded books that needed payment before being shipped. Many more books were sitting in boxes at his house waiting to be submitted.

 

I've heard many figures thrown out, but it sounds like the total cost of all the bills, signing fees, and the value of the books he was responsible for that were outstanding was around the $100K mark.

 

Former friends of his who also work with CGC regularly stepped in and got many CGC invoices paid and the books returned to the owners. They funded some of this by taking possession of his personal books and selling them (on Facebook).

 

I believe the majority of books have been returned, but there are a few instances where Akoni Kaholo lied to get additional submissions. That's my situation. I and several others are currently waiting on refunds that may or may not come as a result of Akoni's lies where he purposefully solicited submissions that he had no intention of completing.

 

CGC has issued a letter to Akoni Kaholo saying he is no longer allowed to witness or facilitate for them. It's unclear to me whether or not he's allowed to submit to them anymore, but from the sounds of it, Akoni is looking to just brush his hands of the whole situation and leave it all behind.

 

Many thanks for posting this, I appreciate it.

 

I also appreciate the information. Didn't realize how big the problem was.

 

I'm quite sorry this happened, and like many of you thought he was a pretty stand up guy before all this. But I thought it was kinda funny that he wants to 'brush/wash his hands of the situation.'

 

I too would want to wash my hands of a situation where I allegedly defrauded multiple customers, terribly represented a comic book legend, and was in debt to a comic grading company for nearly $100K. I'm sure Bernie Madoff wants to wash his hands of the whole 'worlds biggest ponzi scheme' situation too.

 

"No judge, YOU don't understand. Yes I knowlingly took the money under false pretenses. But I've WASHED MY HANDS OF THE WHOLE SITUATION. So we're good right?"

 

"No honey, YOU don't understand. Yes I know she was your best friend, But I've WASHED MY HANDS OF THE WHOLE SITUATION. So we're good right?"

[PovertyRow]

As far as Akoni goes, is he being nominated for the PL or HOS? It may not matter either way since it sounds unlikely he would ever be removed from the PL but I'm just curious due to the number of people affected and dollar amount.

 

 

Sure sounds HOS worthy to me. Large number of people affected, large $$ amount, no ultimate attempt by Akoni to solve the problem, and accepting further submissions he had no intention of completing.

 

Can't imagine a more worthy nomination to the HOS.

 

I agree. It has a bit of a Lighthouse feel to it.

[HarveySwick]

[PovertyRow]

 

[KPR Comics]

Might consider deleting the posts BB, since it very well may have the consequence of people updating their lists unnecessarily.

 

[IntoAnother]

i'm not sure they can do anything, but can you file a police report?

 

i'm not saying he'll go to jail or nothin', but a friendly knock on the door from an officer probably gets everything returned.

 

If he follows through with a police report, the police will certainly come to his door and the knock will not be friendly.

 

The seller sold the sketched slab for over $500 on eBay.

 

The boardie who got beat out of this book has proof (text messages/emails) from the seller, indicating that the book was owed to him.

 

As the slab has realized a value of over $500, the seller committed *grand larceny*.

 

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/grand+larceny

 

That is not the seller's only crime.

 

By using a mail carrier to ship this slab (stolen property) over state lines, I am pretty sure the seller would be facing two criminal charges.

 

The latter charge is a Federal Offense, if I am not mistaken.

 

If the boardie files a police report, both of the charges would be set in motion, as far as I can see.

 

Finally, if 5 of us report this listing to ebay as suspected stolen property, the seller will get his due deserts from not only the criminal and federal offenses...but he would just about certainly be kicked off of eBay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

resurrected a weeks old (and settled) matter to give bad legal advice? Were you too busy to comment then because you were building another 40 foot fire moat? Total CAK move.

 

I have no reason to believe the "CAK moves" such as these are nothing more than pathetic attempts of getting attention. It is absurd to believe one person can continue to be so clueless on occasion when he is extremely cunning in the area of trolling. I don't find it likable in the least bit when people intentionally play the airhead card either. It's as annoying as the trolls and I'm not buying it.

[Wall-Crawler]

So CGC has legally parted ways with Akoni..

 

If someone could give a brief summary I am curious what has happened with this. I have read the specific complaints here in the PL but I'm not familiar with the general picture. Has he walked away from clients and obligations? Are there extenuating circumstances?

 

For a couple of years, Akoni Kaholo (kaholo1256) was a witness/facilitator in good standing with CGC...particularly the Signature Series program.

 

Back in the middle of 2015, he advertised a sketch opportunity with Kevin Eastman. He took (a lot) of money and books to be signed and/or sketched on. This was normal as Akoni Kaholo had taken many submissions of this nature in the past and never had any problems.

 

While getting these done, Akoni Kaholo continued to accept submissions for other shows he'd be attending in order to get them signed for clients.

 

Many of the original books from the first Eastman sketch opportunity were completed and group photos were posted. Originally, he was to submit this directly to CGC via the mail. Then, he was to bring them to Baltimore Comic Con for on-site grading. Then, he was to bring them to NYCC for submission. None of these things happened. Akoni Kaholo went silent after that.

 

Many clients started posting in his threads asking for updates with no response. PM's went unread and phone calls were dodged.

 

I nominated Akoni Kaholo for the probation list back in December. This prompted a response from him where he basically said "my bad all, I'll get these right out and get things straightened out". He immediately went silent again.

 

When enough people asked questions, it surfaced that Akoni Kaholo had MANY outstanding bills waiting to be paid at CGC and from the looks of it, he had no intention of paying them. He had many already-graded books that needed payment before being shipped. Many more books were sitting in boxes at his house waiting to be submitted.

 

I've heard many figures thrown out, but it sounds like the total cost of all the bills, signing fees, and the value of the books he was responsible for that were outstanding was around the $100K mark.

 

Former friends of his who also work with CGC regularly stepped in and got many CGC invoices paid and the books returned to the owners. They funded some of this by taking possession of his personal books and selling them (on Facebook).

 

I believe the majority of books have been returned, but there are a few instances where Akoni Kaholo lied to get additional submissions. That's my situation. I and several others are currently waiting on refunds that may or may not come as a result of Akoni's lies where he purposefully solicited submissions that he had no intention of completing.

 

CGC has issued a letter to Akoni Kaholo saying he is no longer allowed to witness or facilitate for them. It's unclear to me whether or not he's allowed to submit to them anymore, but from the sounds of it, Akoni is looking to just brush his hands of the whole situation and leave it all behind.

 

Many thanks for posting this, I appreciate it.

 

I also appreciate the information. Didn't realize how big the problem was.

 

I'm quite sorry this happened, and like many of you thought he was a pretty stand up guy before all this. But I thought it was kinda funny that he wants to 'brush/wash his hands of the situation.'

 

I too would want to wash my hands of a situation where I allegedly defrauded multiple customers, terribly represented a comic book legend, and was in debt to a comic grading company for nearly $100K. I'm sure Bernie Madoff wants to wash his hands of the whole 'worlds biggest ponzi scheme' situation too.

 

"No judge, YOU don't understand. Yes I knowlingly took the money under false pretenses. But I've WASHED MY HANDS OF THE WHOLE SITUATION. So we're good right?"

 

"No honey, YOU don't understand. Yes I know she was your best friend, But I've WASHED MY HANDS OF THE WHOLE SITUATION. So we're good right?"

 

 

I have no horse in this race, but WOW. What a horrible, horrible mess.

 

Even if Akoni no longer has ties to CGC, why shouldn't he be on the HOS list?

 

Lots of folks come to the CGC boards for information and this is a great community for looking out for one another. What if he starts buing/selling in some capacity on other boards or sites? If people saw what he did here, it might help them to make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to do business with him.

 

Regardless if the guy never buys or sells a single book again and is booted from CGC, the guy, IMHO, belongs on the HOS list.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

40 foot fire moat?

 

[Turtle]

Regarding Akoni, I was the one who nominated him for the Probation List and as others have said, I doubt he's going to work to get off of it.

 

While I read this thread from time to time, I haven't kept up on the nuances of the rules for adding someone to the Hall of Shame. Does he deserve to be on there? Of course. When CGC sends you a letter saying you can't submit with them anymore, you know you've screwed up royally.

 

I don't know the process and to be frank, I'm not terribly interested in putting forth much effort here. I would be in support of putting him on the HoS and people are welcome to use my previous post summarizing the situation if they'd like, but I'd prefer to not be the one to build the case, argue it, take a vote, etc. With a toddler and a 2-month old, my "boards time" is short these days and I'd rather not spend all of it in this particular forum (no offense ).

 

I'll check in from time to time. If anyone needs me, feel free to PM me.

[A-DONIS]

To the tune of an outstanding balance of $5,000...give or take a few, still owed in refunds.

[Comicshrine]

I would like to report mr_highgrade.

 

For the first time I've had a deal go bad. I have found him rude and unprofessional. I submit the facts only and leave it to fellow boardies to judge the outcome. If anybody disputes what I have said I have screenshots of my private PM with him, but do not know the etiquette for posting them.

 

Mr highgrade responded to my WTB Thread for DD blank covers. 1/25/16

 

He said he had 11, I offered $100 plus p&p.

He declined and said he had a deal pending for $200

 

3/5/16 he pm'd me asking if I'm still looking.

I said I'm only interested in high grade comics, potential 9.8's. He ASSURED ME THEY WHERE 9.8 or BETTER.

We agreed 5 for $17 plus p&p to UK.

I paypal $107.50 to him on 3/10/16

 

17/3/16 the comics arrived.

They where not high grade. I sent the following images. 3 out of the 5 where heavily creased. The 2 could probably get a 9.6 IMO.

 

 

 

His explanation was that I must of got them "MIXED UP WITH MY OWN COPIES" those are not his.

I try to be fair and say if you didn't send them like that, then they must have got damaged in the post, even though there is no visible damage to the mailer.

 

After trying to be reasonable and offering the option to either offer me a full refund plus my return postage if I sent them back or refund me just for the 3.

I then get the I've been collecting highgrade comics since the 70's hand picking every issue etc. he's well known etc.

 

He eventually calls me a liar claiming I swapped him NM copies for mine. . Not looking at the sense of me switching 3 comics at $17 plus my international shipping costs. That is where we are at.

 

I am simply a customer trying to return comics I'm not happy with.

 

If there are any questions I will try and answer, but please be aware of the time difference and work hours.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[wombat]

Was any kind of return policy discussed before the purchase? That could be helpful.

[Comicshrine]

No. Nothing discussed like that. I made the point that I was looking only for highgrade copies. I know no one can guarantee a 9.8 but those are big defects. The crux is he is adamant that I switched them. No sense in that. I think he thinks his 5000 posts and roe will crush me on here. But it's a B&W situation. If I have to bring in references I can.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Comicshrine

[Comicshrine]

Also to mention, his solution was if I have a problem to take it up with USPS and claim off them. Knowing full well my contract is with him not with the postal service, only he can file a claim

[gaz973]

I can provide a reference that my experience selling to Comicshrine has been nothing but positive and I've never got any impression that he is anything but completely honest. Accusing him of switching out copies is a hell of an accusation to level, especially when all he had to gain was better copies of three blanks.