Stolen signature off the table at auction house

Thursday, July 29, 2010

By ALBERT McKEON

Staff Writer

AMHERST – It was one small signature for Neil Armstrong, but one giant leap toward legal trouble for a government employee.

It was also a lost sale for an Amherst auction house.

A customs declarations form signed in March by the famed astronaut at Logan Airport and allegedly stolen by a government employee became an item to bid on months later through RR Auction. When alerted by a customer, the company halted bidding and returned the paper to government officials.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection worker and a friend who allegedly helped in passing off the document to RR Auction now face federal theft charges.

Autograph enthusiasts also lost an opportunity to land one of the rarest signatures.

The first man to walk on the moon can’t be bothered with autographs. Armstrong’s signature appears as often as legitimate lunar rocks; an RR Auction executive believes the customs form could have fetched more than $5,000.

“Because of its uniqueness,” said Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing for RR Auction, of the form bearing Armstrong’s John Hancock.

The amount of handwriting and details on the customs form also would have pushed the sale price, Livingston said.

“It’s one of those reasons why . . . we collect handwritten letters. It gives us insight into one of our heroes.”

Apparently concerned about forgers profiting from his name, Armstrong stopped signing items in 1994, greatly increasing the value of his signature. Just last year, a $10.50 check that Armstrong wrote only hours before he and his Apollo 11 crew launched for the moon sold for $27,350 through RR Auction.

The allure of making cash from Armstrong’s customs form drove Thomas Chapman, of Malden, Mass., to steal the document, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said Tuesday. Chapman, 50, was working as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection technician at Logan on March 13 when Armstrong passed through a checkpoint after an international flight. After helping Armstrong with his bags, Chapman collected the customs declarations form completed by the former astronaut but didn’t file it with proper Department of Homeland Security authorities, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The next day, Chapman allegedly brought the form to his friend, 50-year-old Paul Brickman, of Chelsea, Mass.

Brickman and Chapman contacted an individual who specializes in collectible signatures to help sell the form, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Federal prosecutors didn’t name the third individual but said he is now cooperating with the government.

The individual told Brickman and Chapman he could sell the form and took it from them, the U.S. attorney’s office said. He then brought the form to RR Auction.

Bidding for Armstong’s customs form started May 22 with an opening bid of $200. RR Auction tries to be vigilant about the legitimacy of what it sells, but was unaware of the circumstances behind the form, Livingston said.

The sale lasted only about a day, Livingston said. A customer called RR Auction and recommended that the form be removed from the online sale, he said. Bidding reached $1,026 before the sale stopped, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Homeland Security officials soon arrived in Amherst and RR Auction turned over the form, Livingston said.

Brickman and Chapman are each charged with stealing and conveying an official record of the United States. They each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The announcement Tuesday of the alleged crime came on the 41st anniversary of Armstrong’s walk on the moon.

Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or amckeon @nashuatelegraph.com.