Sports Memorabilia Vendor Charged With Selling Counterfeits
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The former owner of a group of internet sports memorabilia businesses with facilities in Maryland and Pennsylvania has been charged with dealing in counterfeit and fraudulent items.
Forty-one-year-old Joshua Shores of Bel Air, Maryland, was charged with wire fraud in a criminal information filed Friday in federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors said in a news release that Shores owned and operated internet businesses to traffic in counterfeit and fraudulent sports memorabilia. The businesses included Dealakhan, Stadium Authentics, Autograph Showcase, Sunset Beach, End Game Sports and Authenticgraph.
Shores allegedly bought counterfeit sports jerseys in bulk from China and put fraudulent autographs on them.
Prosecutors say Shores unlawfully obtained about $2.5 million dollars from those who bought the fraudulent items.
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