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Posted on 02/15/2023 2:45:51 AM PST by Libloather
Law enforcement agents confiscated over 600 fake championship rings across four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the NCAA from a South Carolina memorabilia store as part of a seizure of counterfeit merchandise, the South Carolina Secretary of State announced. The counterfeit goods could have fetched as much as $15 million at retail.
The hefty price tag, the highest-value seizure in the office's history, was driven by fake NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA championship rings, according to spokesperson Shannon Wiley. The hoard includes 157 Super Bowl rings, 83 NBA Finals rings, 99 World Series rings, 29 Stanley Cup rings and 251 NCAA championship rings for unnamed sports, Wiley said.
Federal, state and local officials raided Kirk's Collectibles at an upstate mall on Feb. 8. No arrests have been made. The shop also sells nonsports memorabilia, according to its website. The South Carolina Secretary of State's office said it cannot share information about the number of suspects while a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigation is underway.
Law enforcement officials emphasized the severity of counterfeiting. South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond said it is not a "victimless crime."
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
only a five-year-old believes any of this
Gosh I’m glad they’re doing something
It’s actually WORTH nothing, but in the fake books that describe the “economy”, it’s very valuable.
This is definitely the most important issue for Homeland Security. /s
We have a major border invasion they totally ignore but we are supposed to be impressed over a bunch of sports crap being seized that nobody cares about.
There is similar situation in stamps and coins. Some are “reproductions” which are worth something, some are “counterfeit”. It helps to understand English!
I sure am glad this sort of policing takes precedence over other matters.
Too bad they can’t find the source of fentanyl coming across the border.
Shouldn’t everyone get a championship ring and a trophy?
No, he doesn’t believe those things have actual value, but that they are being used to inflate the “value” of things “produced” by the “economy”.
You keep reading “Russia has an economy the size of Belgium”, but Russia’s economy is extractive and productive, and doesn’t compare easily to economies whose pillars are Netflix, OnlyFans, and usury.
A guy I know owned a chain of jewelry stores. He’s got money. And his hobby is collecting quality sports memorabilia. The real thing, not replicas.
I once asked him if if he was concerned about counterfeits. “I estimate that one-third of my collection is counterfeit.” He said. “I just don’t know which one-third.”
It’s not a crime to sell a replicas as a replica, like the replica World War I Iron Cross I picked up at a World War I “Fly In” at the Air Force Museum.
It is a crime to sell a cheap replicas as the real thing.
Who cares?
Its ALL worthless crap when you think about it.
The only thing in this life worth anything is a bullet and a gun.
With that, you can own anything.
I understand that, the issue here is they have this hoard worth up to $15 million but no arrests? Were they being sold as authentic? Would a person go into a shop thinking the 157 Super Bowl rings and 99 World Series rings in this one shop were real?
“It’s not a crime to sell a replicas as a replica,...”
It is a crime if the original is protected by intellectual property, and there is no contract to sell replicas of the originals.
It is a crime to sell a cheap replicas as the real thing
As I replied on another post, would a reasonable person go into this one shop and think 157 Super Bowl rings and 99 World Series rings were real?
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