Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Coin Fraud Scheme
Hemispherical
Posts: 9,370 ✭✭✭✭✭
From ICTA (The Industry Council for Tangible Assets):
—————
Barry Ron Skog, 68, of Burnsville, Minn., pleaded guilty February 21 to one count of selling counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud in the United States District Court of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Skog faces a potential maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment on the count of selling counterfeit coins and a potential of 20 years maximum on the mail fraud count. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each count and mandatory restitution in amounts to be determined by the court.
No date has been set for sentencing.
A Minnesota federal grand jury had returned a six-count criminal indictment on April 10, 2018, charging Skog with five counts related to the sale of counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud. With the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss four of the counts related to selling counterfeit coins. According to the plea agreement filed February 21, Skog owned and operated a mail-order business called Burnsville Coin Company, through which he devised a scheme, from June 2012 through October 2015, to advertise and sell counterfeit coins by fraudulently representing that the coins were genuine and worth hundreds of dollars.
The plea agreement describes how through his business Skog posted advertisements in Numismatic News, a nationally circulated hobby publication.
“When potential buyers responded to the advertisements, the defendant often mailed them, via the U.S. Postal Service, lists of additional available coins for purchase,” the plea agreement states. It notes that when Skog communicated with victims, he would often represent himself as “Ron Peterson” and claim to be an employee of the Burnsville Coin Company, when in fact there were no owners or employees of the company other than Skog.
The plea agreement states that Skog sold counterfeit coins to at least 12 separate victims and fraudulently obtained approximately $57,524.29. It notes that he “also intended to create additional loss by advertising for sale 275 additional counterfeit coins at an advertised sale value of approximately $235,000.
The Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau and the Burnsville Police Department conducted the investigation that led to Skog’s arrest. Two members of the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation’s Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force assisted with the investigation. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis.
Collectors Universe won a default judgment against Skog in April 2011 in which a federal court issued an order permanently enjoining Skog from manufacturing and importing counterfeit Professional Coin Grading Service holders. The order also enjoined him from selling any coin, real or counterfeit, in counterfeit PCGS holders. Collectors Universe is the parent firm of the PCGS.
The civil lawsuit was filed on Dec. 7, 2010, in the United States District Court, Central District of California, accusing Skog and his coin business of selling during the previous four years counterfeit rare coins not marked COPY and housed in counterfeit PCGS holders, known as “slabs,” made to order from Chinese manufacturers.
The lawsuit alleged violations of the Hobby Protection Act, the Lanham Act, violation of RICO, common law fraud, conspiracy and violation of California’s unfair competition law. It cited an example of a North Carolina collector who purchased two Seated Liberty dollars dated 1851 and 1858 from Skog in April 2010 for $12,400. The coins and the PCGS holders in which they were encapsulated were determined to be counterfeit.
The Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) is the industry watchdog for the rare coins, paper money, and precious-metals bullion industry.
Comments
Good,
May he get every day of jail that he deserves.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Give him the max!
Yay, maybe this will slow the bad guys down. They deserve what they get.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
68 and headed for prison. Well, if you can't do the time; don't do the crime.
hopefully he will/can make restitution to those he defrauded. it would be interesting to know more about the PCGS lawsuit and some details about how extensive his operation really was. there should be some was to ban interaction with these Chinese manufacturers.
one last point, it in comparison to what Manafort did yet he will probably receive a far longer sentence. so much for equality in the (in)Justice system.
USA v Skog - CASE #: 0:18-cr-00085-WMW-HB-1
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Cut his fingers off
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
This is good for the hobby...however, it is one case out of so very many that we see almost daily. Cheers, RickO
Is there any honest investment groups?
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
I hope he gets the maximum. I purchased a 1916-d pcgs dime from him that he had advertised in Numismatic news several years ago. It was fake and so was the pcgs holder. I sent it back to him for a refund, but never got my $1600 refund. I had a thread on this topic back then. I hope his cell mate takes a liking to him and he rots there!
Wow, just wow.
The lengths at which people go to defraud another person is despicable. I don't know if he learned his lesson, but he will surly have a lot of time to think about it.
It's all about what the people want...
Send a link to this to all the ebay CF sellers
Collector, occasional seller
He was in his 50's (or younger) when started this fraud. It sure takes time to convict these crooks.
Good news to hear !!!
I am happy to see this news. I am also happy that I provided 20 pages of information to PCGS after BS attempted to sell me two counterfeit coins in counterfeit PCGS slabs in 2010. In fact, David Hall stopped by my table at a show to thank me for providing the information. The info was used by PCGS in obtaining its default judgment against BS in 2011.
I also received a phone call from the Minnesota Attorney General's office requesting information and confirmation of the facts in a newsletter article I had written about the situation.
Fortunately, I was able to get a refund from BS, but it wasn't easy. I am hoping the other people who were defrauded are able to get restitution.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I'll copy and past this to every seller of fake US coins I can find.
bob
Whack his pee pee!
Here's a CoinWeek article from last year that indicates the 5 sold coins:
"Minnesota Coin Dealer Indicted on Selling Counterfeit Coins and Fraud Charges"
https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/minnesota-coin-dealer-indicted-on-counterfeit-fraud-charges/
Long time for justice.
A civil lawsuit is different from a federal/felony conviction.
He lost the lawsuit by permanent injunction in 2011 and some $. There no jail time in civil suits.
He plead guilty to the federal felony in 2019. Now he looses his freedom and $. Get’s the title of “con.” When he serves his time then he gains an expanded title of “ex-con.”