The following dialogues are known to both Daniel Kirchheimer and myself because we know each other and communicate with each other on a regular basis.We collaborated on our posts to ensure accuracy. To paraphrase the truly insightful words of a great pen broker and “deal”-maker, the pen community is indeed very small: (http://fountainpenbo...post__p__18610)
Here is my portion of the timeline of the events surrounding Brandon Cifani’s attempt at a $33,300 pen fraud:
On May 11th, Brandon Cifani sent Daniel Kirchheimer an email asking if he had a certain Waterman pen for sale.
Mr. Kirchheimer replied to Mr. Cifani, but he did not send a direct email back. Instead, Mr. Kirchheimer sent his response through eBay to User ID “penmaney” as both Daniel and I suspected that was Mr. Cifani’s eBay username. (See: http://fountainpenbo...irst-vacumatic/)
In the eBay message Mr. Kirchheimer asked penmaney (Mr. Cifani) what his budget was for buying pens. He replied back through eBay from his username “penmaney” and stated that his budget was “unlimited.” This confirmed that Brandon Cifani’s eBay user ID was “penmaney”, and it confirms that he did indeed buy the Vacumatic lot in the above FPB thread.
Mr. Kirchheimer sent Mr. Cifani a photo of the Waterman combo that he inquired about, and Daniel also sent a photo of some of his early overlay pens. Knowing Mr. Cifani’s fondness for deceiving people, Mr. Kirchheimer watermarked his name in the image of the overlays, and Daniel included a comment in the EXIF data in the image file stating “Daniel Kirchheimer owns all the pens shown in this photograph. Brandon Cifani does not own any of the pens in this photo.”
On May 13th, Daniel Kirchheimer sent me this email:
“Just to keep you in the loop...I emailed Brandon these pix, so if they somehow make their way around to you, you'll know the material is mine (and will remain that way).
--Daniel”
This is when I became informed about the above conversations between Daniel and Brandon.
Here is the picture Mr. Kirchheimer sent to me (and to Brandon Cifani):
Knowing about the above communication between Daniel and Brandon, I private messaged Brandon on FPB on May 13th and asked if he had any interesting silver tapered cap pens for sale and/or trade. I knew Daniel recently sent him pictures of overlay pens, and I wanted to see if Brandon would follow the same fraudulent behavior that he participated in when he tried to sell David Isaacson a pen that Brandon never possessed. (http://fountainpenbo...dpost__p__18584)
On May 14th, Brandon responded to my private message and stated that he had some sterling taper cap pens that I might be interested in. To be honest, I was quite shocked that Brandon responded to my inquiry, especially since I have been known to expose Brandon’s lies once or twice publically on FPB. Did he forget that I already foiled an attempt of his to sell/trade a pen that he did not own nor possess?
Mr. Cifani followed that message with another FPB message to me, in which he wrote,
“I sent you some pictures of a recent overseas pen collection that I bought.”
And then in an email with an attached picture, he wrote,
“Here are some of the pens I can trade.”
What was the attached picture, you ask? Well, here it is:
On May 14, I contacted Daniel and stated that Mr. Cifani was attempting to sell and/or trade me a collection of pens that he did not own nor possess. The photo Brandon sent to me was the same photo of Daniel’s collection that Daniel sent to me earlier.
The picture that Mr. Cifani sent to me of this “overseas pen collection” he had supposedly purchased was the very same image Mr. Kirchheimer sent me of his early overlay pens on May 13th, complete with watermark in the top left-hand corner and photo properties saying, “Daniel Kirchheimer owns all the pens shown in this photograph. Brandon Cifani does not own any of the pens in this photo.”
To be sure that Brandon could not retrace his steps and say that he simply mixed up sending pictures of pens that he had, and that he was claiming that he both owned and physically possessed the pens in the picture he had sent, I asked him about a few details of the pens (length of pens, monograms, etc), and I also asked about how this magnificent “overseas collection” was shipped to Mr. Cifani.
Brandon's response,
“The Waterman's on the left are about 5 3/4 inches long, while one being just lightly longer. The beautiful Moore overlay pen I was lucky to acquire a short time ago seems to have the cursive initials 'AG' or 'AC'. While I'm open to trades, I'm reluctant to let the Watermans go, and cash is king for these pens. As for shipping, I was lucky enough to get the package personally shipped with a secured delivery which was quite expensive, but well worth it.”
This reply made it clear that Brandon was claiming that he owned the pens in the attached picture, and that he had them in his possession. Note that he was interested in a strictly cash deal, writing “cash is king for these pens”. On a side note, we should really ask Brandon what shipping service he uses- I would like “personal” and “secured delivery” of all my pens from now on.
I asked Mr. Cifani how much he wanted to sell the entire group of pens in the picture for. Brandon responded on May 16th,
(emphasis added)“For the collection, excluding pens 1,2,3, and 5 I could do $33,300.”
Brandon, how do you feel about trying to sell a collection of pens that you do not own, possess, nor have the ability to possess?
Did you feel exhilarated after thinking that I would give you $33,300 in cash for a collection that YOU DO NOT OWN NOR POSSESS??? This “deal” is not you trying to sell a $100 Waterman 52 1/2V, this is you trying to sell pens that you do not own for $33,300 in cash.
Brandon, do you think what you did is wrong?
What parts of this potential “deal” do you find to be ethically acceptable?
Brandon, do your parents or the police know about what you get involved in on the internet?
For those who are interested in learning more about the history of Brandon Cifani, I ask that you read Daniel Kirchheimer’s account of these events on FPGeeks forum: http://fpgeeks.com/f...29627#post29627
Edited by George, 17 May 2013 - 08:37 PM.