A Lawsuit Says Beckett Sold for $134 Million Against a $1 Billion Appraisal. Here Is What It Means.
Former Beckett owner Greg Lindberg filed a federal RICO lawsuit alleging the grading company was sold to PSA's parent for about $134 million, against an appraisal of more than $1 billion. Here is what the suit claims, who it names, and what it does and does not change for collectors.
A Price Tag Nobody Had Seen
When Collectors, the parent company of PSA, bought its grading rival Beckett, the price was never announced. A federal lawsuit filed this month now puts a number on it, and the man who filed it says it was far too low.
Greg Lindberg, the former owner of Beckett's parent group, filed a civil RICO lawsuit in New York federal court on September 10, according to the Carolina Journal. He filed it from FCI Atlanta, a low-security federal prison, where he is serving a 12-year sentence handed down in May in connection with a bribery conviction and a guilty plea in a multibillion-dollar insurance fraud case.
What the Lawsuit Claims
The suit names North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, Michael Dinius (Causey's appointed special deputy rehabilitator of Lindberg's former insurance companies), Mo Meghji of M3 Partners, and the law firm Williams Mullen. Lindberg alleges they worked together to sell off his assets at a fraction of their value.
The Beckett claim is specific: Lindberg says Beckett was sold for approximately $134 million against an appraisal of $1,003,924,000. He is asking the court to hold the defendants accountable and to stay the next such sale until his restitution appeal is fully decided. A special master has recommended that Lindberg pay $1.655 billion in restitution in the fraud case, a figure he disputes.
The North Carolina Department of Insurance declined to comment on pending litigation. These are allegations in a complaint, not findings by any court, and Collectors and PSA are not named as defendants in the suit as reported.
Why a Collector Should Care
Most hobby news about Beckett this year has been operational: paused submissions, a reopened Base and Standard tier on September 15, and a website that was offline for weeks. This story is different. It gives the first public glimpse of what the hobby's biggest grading company paid to absorb one of its oldest competitors.
The Practical Questions
- Are Beckett slabs affected? Nothing in the lawsuit touches the validity of existing BGS or BVG grades. The suit is about how the sellers handled the sale, not about the grading business itself.
- Could the sale be undone? Lindberg's filing asks to stop future sales, not to reverse the Beckett deal. Unwinding a completed acquisition would be an extraordinary outcome and nothing reported so far suggests it is likely.
- What about the price? A 134 million dollar figure, if accurate, is modest for a brand with Beckett's history, price guides and grading population. It helps explain why Collectors could afford to keep the Beckett brand running while it works through backlogs.
The bigger takeaway is consolidation. PSA and Beckett now sit under one roof, which leaves SGC, CGC and a handful of smaller graders as the independent options. If you care about keeping competition in grading, where you send your cards is the only vote you get.
Deciding which grader to use? Many local card shops run group submissions to PSA, BGS, SGC and CGC and can walk you through turnaround times and costs. Use The Card Shop Finder to find a card shop near you.