A Reading, Pa. man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Philadelphia to a book fraud _ forging famous authors' signatures and selling the books on Ebay as signed originals.
Prosecutor Mark Dubnoff says there were at least a thousand victims over several years, and defendant Forrest Smith, 47, took in over $300,000 from the scam.
According to Dubnoff, Smith bought first-edition books by such authors at Truman Capote, James Michener, Norman Mailer, Tom Clancy, Tom Wolfe and others, forged their signatures, and then sold them at inflated prices on Ebay.
For example, Dubnoff says, Smith bought Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire for $46: "He sold that same book, this time with a forged signature by Anne Rice in the book, for $566. So his profit was more than 500 dollars on this one book."
Dubnoff says Smith used two different Ebay accounts:"What he did was use the account registered in his name to purchase first-edition books by famous authors. He would then get the books, forge authors signatures in those books, and then sell them at inflated prices on his wife's account."