Latest Scandal! Comic Book Dealer Disbarred As Lawyer!!!!

[tth2]

Am I supposed to feel bad about letting people know that Doug stole money from 22 of his clients and probably used that money to support his comic fix?

 

I have confirmed, in fact, that Doug did in the past use his law firm checks to purchase comic books. The source who told me this had thought at the time that it was being done to avoid having his wife find out about the expenditure of money (a logical conclusion to be sure!).

 

In light of the disbarrment decision it would seem reasonable to deduce another reason prompted this strategy.

I've received a check issued by Doug's firm for some books he purchased from me. Since I knew he was running a one-man law firm, I didn't think anything of it at the time.

[awe4one]

you guys make me laugh. You guys get all bent out of shape when it's a comic book dealer that's "has little or no morality".

if we were "moral" we would sell all our comics and go feed starving children with the money.

don't judge less ye be judged!!

 

Listen fella...if you can find any immoral acts on my part, more power to ya! You'll be looking for quite a while though...I'll be waiting...

 

Everyone sets their standards on different levels. You don't like someone's view on morality? Fine. But don't suggest those of us who aren't thieving stealers aren't entitled to dislike those who are...

 

Jim

[Harvey Dude]

you guys make me laugh. You guys get all bent out of shape when it's a comic book dealer that's "has little or no morality".

if we were "moral" we would sell all our comics and go feed starving children with the money.

don't judge less ye be judged!!

 

...Everyone sets their standards on different levels. You don't like someone's view on morality? Fine. But don't suggest those of us who aren't thieving stealers aren't entitled to dislike those who are...

 

Jim

 

I agree with you Jim. It is a shame that some people's moral compass points in the wrong direction.

[THE_BEYONDER]

you guys make me laugh. You guys get all bent out of shape when it's a comic book dealer that's "has little or no morality".

if we were "moral" we would sell all our comics and go feed starving children with the money.

don't judge less ye be judged!!

 

Listen fella...if you can find any immoral acts on my part, more power to ya! You'll be looking for quite a while though...I'll be waiting...

 

Everyone sets their standards on different levels. You don't like someone's view on morality? Fine. But don't suggest those of us who aren't thieving stealers aren't entitled to dislike those who are...

 

Jim

 

I am with you Jim. It is apparent not everyone’s moral compass points in the same direction.

 

I think the line between one's morality & one's loyalty can become often blurred. It quickly becomes a matter of obiligation....and ultimately whether or not it's to ourselves or others.

[esquirecomics]

Well I, for one, just to be clear, am not going to claim I am the most innocent person in the world. I'd like to think I am very ethical and that my heart is in the right place but I am a lawyer after all!

 

Sometimes we as lawyers need to and should push the envelope on behalf of our clients and the interests we believe in. I've done so many times in the past. More often than not, I am applauded for it. Sometimes, I get stung. I pissed off a federal judge once in a case against the CIA and he let me have it good. Quite candidly, he took it upon himself to even refer me to the DC Bar Association for discipline. I disagreed with his decision, and so have most people I know (including numerous federal agencies that continue to grant me access to classified information). Fortunately, so too did the DC Bar Association which declared I had not committed any ethical violations.

 

While lawyers should zealously advocate for the interests of their clients, we cannot cross the line into unlawful or proven/intentional unethical behavior.

[jbud73]

Red,

 

How do you feel about him helping one of his clients avoid paying child support?

 

Was he representing the client ot not?

 

Actually he would be required to help one of his clients avoid paying child support. Just as a CPA is required to help his clients avoid paying taxes...

 

Evading them... now that's another matter entirely.

 

 

 

As far as the original post goes, it certainly doesn't leave a good taste in one's mouth. But I doubt it's a sign that comic dealers (or citizens in general) today are any less ethical than they have been in the past. The internet provides such a ridiculous information-gathering opportunity that it is nearly impossible for people to hide their skeletons. We have all done things we aren't proud of. And we will all continue to do so. No matter how good our intentions may be, it's going to happen.

 

With the exabytes of data now just a google-search away, and millions of people banging away at their keyboards like Shakespeare-writing monkeys, skeletons don't stay secret for long...

 

This board, in particular, has an industry-wide reputation for viciously seeking out scandals and scams in the comic community. That reputation is so strong (and frankly so well deserved) that hundreds of potential forumites stay away from the boards because of the negativity. I am not suggesting that the witches don't need to be burned, they do. But I have personally spoken with a dozen "casual" forum visitors just in the last few months who commented on the fact that they didn't join the discussion because it seemed like all they ever saw was people ripping scam artists a new one.

 

It is almost to the point (or perhaps past the point by now) that the Moderators should consider setting up a separate forum here on the boards just for the scams and scandals, in the hopes that the rest of the boards could be more collector-friendly. In the early days of this board, you would see guys like Rickdogg occasionally catching a scammer in the act, and we would all chime in briefly, and we would add him to the list of sellers to avoid, and then we would go back to talking about comics. In amongst the comic talk, many of us became friends. Some business was conducted, and a Kudos thread was started to report on how well everything turned out. But "Comics General" was chock full of people talking about comics. If a topic was really specific, like Marvel's Price Variants, it wound up in the separate Bronze Forums. So did Greggy's thread on whether Bronze Comic valuations were strongly linked to cover art (still greggy's finest contribution to these forums).

 

Take a trip around the Water Cooler, the Age-specific boards, the Grading forum... Count how many posters you see there that you never see in "General" any more. Count how many of them actually state that the reason they don't read "General" is because of the negativity. It's easy to say that the level of negativity has increased in direct proportion to the number of lawyers we have posting. It's also easy to say that the level of negativity has increased in direct proportion to the amount of scandals that need to be reported. People need to know about Ewert, no doubt about that. Just as they needed to know about Dupcak. I am not as convinced that people need to know about Doug's situation, I am not suggesting the information shouldn't have been available, but there is a difference between the need to tell everyone you see bidding on comic-keys auctions about his history and the need to tell everyone who is shopping with Doug about his...

 

I don't know Doug. I have never bought from him, and I have never met him. After hearing he was disbarred I am glad he wasn't my lawyer. Do I think that affects whether he can be my comic dealer? I don't know. While I would be less likely to send him something on consignment, I don't know that I would think twice about buying from him. There are five people on this board who have sold items on consignment for me, and all of them met the "bag of uncounted money" test. The last three people I had sell stuff for me I didn't even have a written agreement with, and in one case I didn't even tell him a package was coming. I wouldn't have that same level of trust with Doug now. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have any trust at all. "Key to my car", "Key to my house", "Alone with my wife who is passed out on Xanax", "Bag of Uncounted Money", "Alarm Code to my shop"... There are different levels of trust. And falling from one level doesn't mean you have blown it all...

 

Doug wasn't a very good lawyer. They told him he couldn't be one any more. I am not so certain that means he can't be a good comic dealer.

 

What I am certain of, is that this board used to be a lot more fun than it is now. And it used to be a lot easier to convince comic folks to come here and hang out and share their knowledge and their opinions. It used to be a lot easier to come spend an hour chatting with friends and learning about comics. Heck, it used to be fun reading JC's crash threads because they were about the only negative things to be found. The occasional "outing" of a guy like st1ckwizard, while necessary, didn't take over the board.

 

Perhaps it's time to consider a separate forum just for these threads. A separate area for the info that "needs" to be out there. A separate area for info about scam artists, thieves, and the like...

 

Because as it is now, a first-time visitor to the CGC Forums looks over a list of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, Modern, Grading, Marketplace, Original Art, and Comics General. They click on Comics General to see what's going on, and all they find is discussion of criminals...

 

Is that really what "Comics General" should be about?

 

Only made it through the first 15 odd pages so this might be out of the flow of the current discussion and if so I apologize but I wanted to respond to this point.

 

"house I respect a lot of what you said there and I have recently been thinking very much the same thing. This week I posted an open letter because I had had enough of the negativity and more importantly the lack of solutions to the same transgressions. However, after I thought about it - and I'm not saying I am going to wade back into the "lets rip this criminal a new one threads", but I slightly disagree with this the context of your post.

 

I think in the general spectrum of things most would consider you an industry insider - you know a lot and are in touch with many of the nuances of the hobby. In this position and I have been guilty of this recently as well, there is a tendency to hold a condescending opinion of discussion related to information you know and have known about for a long time. Yet, how does anybody come by information if a select number of people do not begin to offer it? So while your suggestion is certainly expeditious, it does have an aura of aristocracy to it. And I for one believe that if we are nearing rock bottom, not in terms of values realized, but in terms of understanding of the types of behavior and conduct that permeates this hobby then - SO BE IT.

 

I think that the newcomers have the right to know what they are wading into in the current hobby. If comics general no longer has the positive vibe then its because the established guard in this hobby have set up an ideal of utopian business practises that is so reprehensible it should sicken you.

 

Most newcomers to the hobby and people returning should feel "like Neo going down the Rabbit Hole" but at least its the truth.

 

In the past nearly 3 years I have learned more about comics by being a member of this board than in the previous 20 combined (I'm not that old but bagged and boarded my first book at age 7 ). While a lot of it has shocked and outraged me, I am forever grateful for the information and wouldnt return to ignorance if I could. Along the way I've made a lot of friends, in fact outside of the people I work with my best friends since coming to the Bay Area are the people I met on these boards.

 

I think that a person should have all the information presented to them, nasty and depressing and fun stuff that allows them to turn back the clock. Then they can choose what they do with that info - how they participate in the hobby. I choose to increase my knowledge base and also participate in the fun threads that make me feel like a kid walking into my first LCS.

 

If people feel intimidated, or are reluctant to post or participate in comics general because of the tone of some threads of posters then thats their position, but I can't argue that that should get in the way of an examination and desire to understand the truth. And the truth to me is this - comics IS initmidating, it IS big business filled with a lot of unsavoury people. But there are also opportunities to have a good time and meet some of the best individuals you would ever want to associate with. Its a mish mash of everything and part of it shouldnt be shuttled away in the corner just so some peolple can feel comfortable and put on rose colored glasses.

 

PS, its nice to have you back and posting on the boards, congrats on the new collection.

[shadroch]

How many of those who proclaim to be on the moral high ground still have bid on Heritage auctions given the scuttlebutt about Halperin's past. I think many of us, including myself.

 

I admit it. I bid on and won a $35 raw comic in the last two years on Heritage.

 

say fifty Hail Marys and twenty five Our Fathers, plus two months of no "Clintons" as penance

 

Good lord! I'll give up comics before I give up that!

 

ENJOY THE TASTE THAT MUCH,DO YA?

btw-I'll be in Kingman the afternoon of Feb 8th,how far is that from you?Whats the halfway point?

[Scheradon]

The big difference is that Dupcak continues to rip people off. Big difference. But I'm sure that distinction escaped you. Or you chose to ignore it. There is no evidence, zero, that Doug is messing around with his comic book clients.

 

This seems to me to qualify a rip off and messing around with cimic book clients (taken from the Trim Jim thread:

 

 

 

I spoke with Mark (esquirecomics) and we both agreed that in light of the circumstances that have presented themselves in the past few days that I should post this info regarding the Journey #92 Trimmed book. These are the facts as I remember them to the best of my knowledge:

 

1) Qualitycomix emailed Redhook about the JIM #92 saying it was a trimming suspect and that it was on Doug's Schmell's site (PedigreeComics).

 

2) Although Redhook didn't respond to the email, it appears he did contact Doug to inform him of the suspect book on his site.

 

3) Qualitycomix then emailed Doug and said that the book was probably trimmed. He included the before scan so Doug would have something to compare it to.

 

4) Doug replied that he already knew about it (thru Red Hook) and that he would take care of it. Doug also mentioned that a previous buyer had fallen thru for the book, and that he had to keep it because he had already forwarded the money for the book to Brulato/Ewert.

 

5) Months later, the book appears on Heritage. This is when Qualitycomix decided it was necessary to post the book on the boards to alert everyone.

 

7) Doug indicated to Qualitycomix that he had forgotten about the book and that he wished he had remembered because then he could've gotten his money back from Brulato.

 

8) Doug also said that he didn't know for sure that the book was trimmed (Qualitycomix had sent him a "before" scan, but Doug said he didn't remember receiving it) so there was no reason to believe Qualitycomix, especially since the book had been thru CGC's hands twice. (Doug had resubbed it again trying for a 9.6 grade.)

 

This doesn't help me to get his trust back and the fact he tried to push it through Heritage rather than his own site makes it look even worse. Sounds like this was just another "mistake" I guess

[shadroch]

 

"isolated incident"redux

[shadroch]

IF the above timeline is correct,Red Hook seems to have some explaining to do.

Just another New York minute.

[sckao]

 

Just read 26 pages of this thread and it's unfortunate to hear such news.

 

I don't know how long this was happening, but it's interesting to note that the Pacific Coast Pedigree Collection surfaced in 1999. CGC started in early 2000 along with escalating prices.

 

The Stock Market bubble also burst in 2000 and 2001.

 

CGC's rates for submittals on uber-expensive books can also range to $1000. That's a fair chunk of change depending on the size and quality of a collection. Just paying the standard $49 fee for 500 books is almost $25,000.

[tth2]

I don't know how long this was happening, but it's interesting to note that the Pacific Coast Pedigree Collection surfaced in 1999. CGC started in early 2000 along with escalating prices.

Robert Roter is painfully aware of this!

[awe4one]

Well I, for one, just to be clear, am not going to claim I am the most innocent person in the world. I'd like to think I am very ethical and that my heart is in the right place but I am a lawyer after all!

 

And to be clear here...I'm no angel as well. No one is. But when it comes to screwing other people out of money, my conscious is clear. I don't like it when it happens to me and make a point that all my dealings with others meet the same standard...

 

Jim

[mar-vell]

I don't know how long this was happening, but it's interesting to note that the Pacific Coast Pedigree Collection surfaced in 1999. CGC started in early 2000 along with escalating prices.

Robert Roter is painfully aware of this!

 

Robert Roter? What about the guy who spent years building the collection & took care of it for decades! I don't even know his name yet the original owner seems to get none of the credit! If he had just waited a few more years he could be doing what Don Rosa is doing now! Forget Roter that collection should be named after the original owner or at least have his name attached to it like edgar church/mile high! Does anybody know his name? I wish we could influence CGC into considering this!

[Harvey Dude]

... I will continue to do business with just the same and who I will continue to regard as being open and honest when it comes to all matters comics!

 

Please...... no more 'scandals'!

 

Do you still feel the same after reading the JIM thread?

[esquirecomics]

Well I, for one, just to be clear, am not going to claim I am the most innocent person in the world. I'd like to think I am very ethical and that my heart is in the right place but I am a lawyer after all!

 

And to be clear here...I'm no angel as well. No one is. But when it comes to screwing other people out of money, my conscious is clear. I don't like it when it happens to me and make a point that all my dealings with others meet the same standard...

 

Jim

 

I'm with you!

[burntboy]

 

In the past nearly 3 years I have learned more about comics by being a member of this board than in the previous 20 combined (I'm not that old but bagged and boarded my first book at age 7 ). While a lot of it has shocked and outraged me, I am forever grateful for the information and wouldnt return to ignorance if I could. Along the way I've made a lot of friends, in fact outside of the people I work with my best friends since coming to the Bay Area are the people I met on these boards.

 

I think that a person should have all the information presented to them, nasty and depressing and fun stuff that allows them to turn back the clock. Then they can choose what they do with that info - how they participate in the hobby. I choose to increase my knowledge base and also participate in the fun threads that make me feel like a kid walking into my first LCS.

 

If people feel intimidated, or are reluctant to post or participate in comics general because of the tone of some threads of posters then thats their position, but I can't argue that that should get in the way of an examination and desire to understand the truth. And the truth to me is this - comics IS initmidating, it IS big business filled with a lot of unsavoury people. But there are also opportunities to have a good time and meet some of the best individuals you would ever want to associate with. Its a mish mash of everything and part of it shouldnt be shuttled away in the corner just so some peolple can feel comfortable and put on rose colored glasses.

 

PS, its nice to have you back and posting on the boards, congrats on the new collection.

 

Well-said, Jason..........

 

and i agree wholeheartedly..............

[AlexH]

Does anyone have the Coles notes version of this thread?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Does anyone have the Coles notes version of this thread?

 

In 10 words or less:

 

Doug's collection was financed by dipping into client accounts.

[nik]

Does anyone have the Coles notes version of this thread?

 

In 10 words or less:

 

Doug's collection was financed by dipping into client accounts.

 

 

Probably, but only one person can truthfully answer that.